Im 15 and I cant find anything all campaigns either have an age restriction or get full im in cst and I would love to find a dm or a group to play with! comment here or add me on discord: smacknliebes

So my playing group has had the same Forever Master since, well, forever. He's a great story teller and I've decided to learn a bit of DMing. We mostly play Pathfinder but I'm a scifi nerd and want to introduce my friends to Starfinder, and when I told them a 2e was on it's way they were piqued. Funnily, another player has also shown interest in DMing PF, and it would be great to have more DMs in our group because our main guy and his wife, a third player, have mentioned that babies and parental duties might become a thing for them in the next few years. So with all that in mind, recently I got the base core books (Player Core 2 and Monster Core still haven't been published here in Spain!) and I'm studying the blade Master Core. But I have questions about adventures and campaigns.

I assume adventures and AP for SF2e won't take long to be published, and there's also all the platest material out there. Furthermore, there is 1e material that can be converted to 2e with some work balancing encounters and such. There's a couple of them that thematically interest me a lot, so that's something I'll definetly be trying in the future.

And regarding writing my own campaign... I have a basic layout of a story in mind, and (of course!) I'm taking inspiration -if not shamelessly stealing- from other sources. What the Big Problem is, what are some steps to solve before directly adressing it, and how the PCs are thrown in the mix. The in-betweens can be written later.

But, how to write my own campaign? I'm not talking about the intrincancies of DMing, but the actual writing. What goes through the mind of the writers? How do I write an adventure and not a book?

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes fully fleshed-out notes, music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

If you've run Into Ivy Mansion then you've heard of the name M.T Black! Well, he's back at it, but this time with a much darker twist.

In this level 3/4 One-Shot, Travelers are going missing on the Long Road; the 100-mile stretch between Triboar and Longsaddle. Your players will investigate and discover a haunted mansion with a dark history and a gruesome secret. Their quest brings them to the very gates of hell itself, where an infernal abomination presents them with their greatest challenge yet...

* I've updated a few story elements compared to the original, which you can find at the bottom of the notes!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Shadows on the Long Road: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: Shadows on the Long Road PDF
• Link to: Shadows on the Long Road Playlist
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• Custom Map for the Manor
• Spell list for Gideon

Over 6 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

so, in the game i am currently working on (i plain the start running it in march) i have the players trapped in a large city (think the size of Manhattan but more densely populated), the players are trapped in the city because the bad guys of the game, (a cult called the faithful of the old bellow who i will refer to as the cult for the rest of this post) have poisoned the water supply of the city and infected most people with a sickness. the city is locked down because the authority's don't want to sickness getting out, but here is where the conspiracy comes into play, the leader of the hospital in the city (a powerful faction called the ministry of healing) is the leader of the cult, and made the sickness, he is also in control of lots of the semi powerful NPCs the players will deal with.

my problem is, i don't know how to write a conspiracy, my plain is the drop hints here and their, and slowly the players will discover the lab the cult used, then find out that the lab is owned by someone who works closely with the ministry of healing, then that will lean that someone high up is responsible and so on until they discover the true culprit,

i need some advice on how to drop hints for players to find, i need some ideas on hints to give them, and how to lead a group of level 3 to level 4 players to a large scale conspiracy, i can elaborate with more info if anyone wants

I am having a great deal of writers block or something and am having trouble developing this idea I have for a Spelljammer setting, I would greatly appreciate any help in how I could build upon this idea.

Basically it's about a Humanoid empire that travel in a planet sized Spelljammer and they're harvesting from worlds of different creature types (so a Celestial world, a Fey world, a Dragon world, etc) to fuel it all while a curse shortening the lifespan of all Humanoids erodes them away. The idea of the campaign would be the players being disillusioned imperials that decide they need to form a resistance with the planets being invaded. That's… kinda all I got so far, I have a few vague ideas on each creature type's world but I'm really stuck on where I can take this idea, I really like it but I keep getting stuck on it :/

Witches of Pikemaster is an adventure for characters level 3-10 as the PCs investigate a strange cult of witches. From an innocuous beginning, the adventure will take the PCs to the outer planes, making it an excellent introduction to Planescape or Descent into Avernus...
Can the witches succeed in their plans? Or are they just misguided?
Witches of Pikemaster is available on the DM's Guild today!

Hey everyone!

As is tradition, I got all carried away with my world building and decided to put it together in the form of a source book. I put it up on Drive Thru RPG over the summer, had a kid, and totally forgot to promote it in any meaningful way. Anyways, I'd be thrilled for anyone to check it out.

Alden's Fall is a wild west inspired fantasy setting. In the source book, you'll find maps, items, NPCs, cities, political history, cultural history, pantheon, plot hooks, setting specific monsters, the whole 9 yards.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/489530/alden-s-fall-an-explorer-s-guide

Hey everyone i've been working on putting together an interesting quest from my previous campaign in to publishable form. I'm running my first kickstarter without any prior community of supporters and we are nearly funded! So to get it over the edge perhaps and to raise awareness I thought id share it here too.

Heres a quick summary

"Secrets of The Lost Mage" is an adventure aimed at tier 2 play, lvl 6-7 (with room for tweaking if need be). It's a multi-location adventure that takes the party from a small whaling town to an unremarkable island that has held a secret for milenia. The Party is hired by a mage to find the lost ruins used by a court of legendary mages from a bygone era, known as the Veiled Concordium*, and uncover their long hidden secrets.*

You can get the full adventure for just £2 so if you are interested and want to know more you can check out my Kickstarter, it would be very much appreciated. (cross your fingers for me! XD)

Secrets of The Lost Mage - Kickstarter

I'm working on a fey/Feywild focused campaign at the moment and I had the idea to add an antagonistic group of fey hunters. But I can't think of any reasons why a group of individuals in a high fantasy setting would want to hunt fey. Do you have any ideas?

So I want to run a zelda (breath of the wild & tears of the kingdom) themed adventure. I'm thinking no more than 5-7 sessions and starting at level 1(I have 3 players). I know that they will wake up in the shrine of resurrection. They must escape from the great plateau to start the journey to save zelda. If you've played the game you know what happens.

I have finally finished writing, editing, and formatting a 72 page adventure called Tower of Retribution. This was part of the dungeon23 writing exercise where you write a dungeon room a day for a year. As with most writing exercises I didn't always meet my goals and it ended up taking longer then I would have liked but I finished the writing early this year and spend the rest of the year trying to finish the formatting.

I ended up really happy with this exercise. I have an finished book that is incredibly dense with content and I got a chance to use the dungeon of dungeons model to make a mega dungeon that I think is still really easy to use and run do to the one page design. My biggest hurdle ended up not being the writing but creating the monster stat blocks, making maps, and formatting stuff with art. I think I may do this challenge again but I am pondering ways to reduce or speed up the parts of it that really bogged me down.

So, I know a general idea of who a bbeg will be, and a big antagonist of the campaign will be the Thieves Guild of the city the game is centered in. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on doing a slow burn into it? Various other quests that at the end the characters will find some sort of piece linking it to the thieves guild and things.

Ihave never written anything except for stuff in school and this will be my first campaign. Any tips? Or any think i can improve in my story? A link with the campaign will be in the comments.

Let's Stab The Ocean

This is a one-shot adventure where the players face off against Neptus, the god of the sea, who has taken the form of the entire ocean. The first step is to survive, as an entire city and surrounding area is swept up by the waves. After fleeing to a fortress in the mountains, the players will have to defend against Neptus’s legions of aquatic monstrosities as they try to figure out how, if humanly possible, they could find a way to literally kill the ocean.

This adventure should take about 5-7 hours. It’s balanced for a party of 4 level 5 players, but it should be somewhat flexible. Excited to hear what you think!

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

Axeholm is a dwarven fortress carved into the base of a mountain. It was abandoned and sealed up long ago after being haunted by a banshee. Ghouls and other creatures now prowl Axeholm while the banshee continues to haunt the fortress's upper halls. It'll be up to your players to clear this fortress and make it a safe haven for the town of Phandalin, should the dragon threat become too hard to bear!

The Lower Halls will have your players face an onslaught of Ghouls if they try to go through the front gates, as well as the ghoulified dwarf castellan who remained behind trying to protect those that fled!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Part 4a Axeholm Lower Halls: DM Notes
• Link to: Axeholm Playlist
• Link to: AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and spots to mark HP
• Custom Maps of Axeholm

Index:
Dragons of Icespire Peak:

• Part 1 - Phandalin
• Part 2a - Umbrage Hill
• Part 2b - Dwarven Excavation
• Part 2c - Gnomengarde
• Part 3a - Logger Camp
• Part 3b - Butterskull Ranch
• Part 3c - Mountain's Toe Gold
• Part 4a - Axeholm
• Part 4b - Dragon Barrow
• Part 4c - Woodland Manse
• Part 5 - Icespire Hold
• Side Quest 1 - Shrine of Savras
• Side Quest 2 - Tower of Storm
• Side Quest 3 - Circle of Thunder

Over 6 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc. please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

Hey everyone, I'm super excited to share my latest project with you:

https://gamefound.com/en/projects/roll-for-treasure/shivering-in-the-cold?ref=search

Roll for Treasure invites you to embark on a chilling journey into the frozen depths of Lovecraftian horror with Shivering in the Cold. This immersive role-playing adventure book is designed for the most popular RPG system, transporting your party into a world of dread, suspense, and unspeakable horrors.

"A chilling whisper echoes through the windswept peaks of the northern mountains. A small hamlet, once nestled amidst the snow-kissed crags, has fallen silent. Its inhabitants, like shadows vanishing into the twilight, have vanished without a trace. No word, no sign, no echo of their lives remains. You, brave adventurers, are called upon to unravel the mystery that shrouds this forsaken place. But beware, for the secrets that lie within may be more terrifying than any beast that roams the wild."

I hope you enjoy my latest creation. Please let me know what you think. Sending warm wishes and happy adventures.

My overall BBEG is on the scale of cosmic creator/destroyer that makes Cthulu look like a widdle sea monkey.
BBEG entertains itself by creating worlds and universes out of their own essence and when their project is finished they wreak cataclysmic destruction on their creation and re-absorbs their spent essence. Rinse and repeat.
This got boring so they created life on planets before destruction, found great glee in this and slowed down the rate of destruction to savor it. They created great monsters to terrorize the lesser beings, classic stompy bity monsters but also things more elemental in nature.

An everstorm, a living hurricane (with a core gem powering it) that marches across the land destroying all in its path

A massive cloud of death whose shadow spread across the land, all in its umbral embrace vulnerable to necrotic influence, healing magics halved, all undeads superpowered. Any dead body not properly burned or blessed rises as undead within hours

An unstopable force, A mountain that moves like a glacier but at the pace of a man jogging. drawn towards large populations it grinds everything in its path.

A Song that gets stuck in your head, the more it loops the more you are driven to sing it and eventually turn into a blood thirsty rabid monstrosity that continues to sing the song, either shredding those you find, or infecting the mind of surviviers who may take up the song and spread the plagued lyrics.

These are the kind of ideas im looking for. Im looking more for conceptual monsters less than corporeal ones. Things the players would have to be clever and have to plan and scheme to take down instead of the standard everyone rush it and beat it to a pulp as fast as they can.

Thanks for reading this far and triple thanks for any input.

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc. and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes fully fleshed-out notes, music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

We Be Goblins by Richard Pett is one of the best-rated 1st level One-Shots for Pathfinder. In it, your players will play as a horde of malicious and murderous goblins that must set off and find fireworks hidden in a derelict ship, but first, they must prove themselves by completing a series of dangerous dares, from swallowing Bull-Slugs to braving the Dreaded Earbiter to dancing with Squealy Nord himself!? Your players won't soon forget the shenanigans they get up to here!

I've fully converted this Pathfinder One-Shot to 5e, so it will run as seamlessly as any other. You'll also find all the original pre-generated characters along with 6 additional options, including a sorcerer goblin, a rouge goblin, a paladin goblin, and more, all converted and ready to go!

It's rare that players get to live the lives of goblins, so make sure they enjoy every ear-biting moment of it!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for We Be Goblins: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to Adventure: We Be Goblins
• Link to: We Be Goblins Playlist
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all the encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• A Handout for Scribblefaces Map (Credits: MrVergee)
• A Spell List for Vorka
• All Player Characters fully converted for 5e along with additional options (Credit: Biochip and alkatrazjr)

Over 6 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

I created an adventure module as part of a challenge issued to adventure writers (Guy Sclanders' "Challenge 2024").

The adventure is about a mind flayers who is a behavioral psychologist putting OCs through a series of psychological situations and evaluating their reactions and responses.

I'd love to know what people think of it. I've been trying to get a group to playest it, but I haven't had any luck yet.

Thanks for any constructive feedback you can give me.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MhlCmQqBbk71rFGwDCYIuCAV6cG_nc-6/view?usp=drivesdk

By now, you’ve likely run countless adventures with full-size heroes facing monstrous threats. If you want something new, step into the world of Mice of Legend, where your players are transformed into tiny mouse heroes and sent on a series of epic quests. In this adventure, even a blade of grass can prove to be a formidable obstacle!

Mice of Legend is a fully-featured campaign setting & adventure module for D&D that adapts familiar mechanics for a mouse-sized perspective. It’s compatible with OSRIC, AD&D, and easily adaptable to 5e.

The first adventure module, “A Miraculous Mousey Metamorphosis”, is designed for character levels 1-3. When a sacred relic is stolen from the hamlet of Braeford, your party must become mice to track down the mysterious thieves. Their journey will take them through towering forests (which are actually tall grasses), dangerous dungeons, and deadly run-ins with rat raiders.

This project features:

• Two fully-realized books, including a campaign setting guide and the first adventure module.
• Extensive lore that will give you all the context you need to run your Mice of Legend adventure, or create your own campaign within this unique world.
• Over 50 unique enemies that convert classic D&D monsters like giants & dragons to mouse-sized equivalents like stoats & cats.
• Over 25 new magical items to aid your mousey heroes in their quest or reward the for their efforts.
• Fully illustrated pages featuring work from incredible artists like Castle Grief & John Bilodeau.
• Several high-resolution maps showing the overworld and the many perilous dungeon areas your players will need to survive in order to complete their journey.

This project launches on Kickstarter next week! Check it out here. Early versions of the adventure materials are also available on DTRPG.

I am currently writing a short adventure where the entire village is under a spell where "if anyone falls asleep in the town then they cannot wake"! I am working on a way to give enough clues to the players before they fall asleep themselves so that they can begin the panic and try and have to solve the issue without resting!

This adventure will be going live on Kickstarter to hopefully get some nice artwork for the Characters & Monsters. If you would like to learn more about the project or give it a follow you can here: A Long Night of Mourning

Hey yall we started our new podcast based on the lives throught the eyes of the the character in my homebrew. Its called Ragnarök Reborn! It's set in norse mythology!! Check us out on Spotify! Ragnarök Reborn!

Hi yall, So I have a dilemma. I’m currently looking at building a campaign with the main premise being that the players are tasked of investigating the strange occurrences of The Monarch’s forest, a forest owned by the ruler of the land that is considered sacred or something of the sort. In the end, I want there to be a plot twist that the Monarch of the kingdom is actually hiding a deep secret in the forest, a release of a primordial god that takes the form of a giant monarch butterfly. The problems here is figuring out all the in between stuff such as how players would explore the forest as I want this it be a more long winded campaign. Is this something that you as a player feel like you might enjoy? Do you have any tips or advice on the building of this campaign? Thank you all so much in advance :)

Room 1: Entrance And Guardian
• Room 2: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
• Room 3: Red Herring
• Room 4: Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
• Room 5: Plot Twist

im new to this type of one-shot/session. Should i be using it? Or is Sly Flourish Method better? I can't decied. Gimme some insight.

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

Harbin Wester is hopeful that a magic item from Gnomengarde can help against the dreaded dragon! It'll be up to your players to venture forth and request aid from the reclusive and secretive gnomes; however, far more threats await when they arrive. The Kings' have gone mad, and a gnome-eating mimic is on the loose! Will your player be able to bring peace to Gnomengarde once more?

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Part 2c Gnomengarde: DM Notes
• Link to: Gnomengarde Playlist
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• A Word document with all my notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and spots to mark HP
• Custom Maps of Gnomengarde

Index:
Dragons of Icespire Peak:

• Part 1 - Phandalin
• Part 2a - Umbrage Hill
• Part 2b - Dwarven Excavation
• Part 2c - Gnomengarde
• Part 3a - Loggers Camp
• Part 3b - Butterskull Ranch
• Part 3c - Mountain's Toe Gold
• Part 4a - Axeholm (Coming Soon)
• Part 4b - Dragon Barrow (Coming Soon)
• Part 4c - Woodland Manse (Coming Soon)
• Part 5 - Icespire Hold (Coming Soon)
• Side Quest 1 - Shrine of Savras
• Side Quest 2 - Circle of Thunder (Coming Soon)
• Side Quest 3 - Tower of Storm (Coming Soon)

Over 6 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

Hi all, I am new to this so I need some help!

I know the premise but am not sure how to fill it…

A thief, a wizard and a ranger need to retrieve a large diamond from a museum.

The wizard’s uncle created the magic security system and he’s been there before so he has a map layout and some knowledge of what the alarm system is/how to disarm the types of things it is made up of (or what his grandpa typically does)

Can you please help me come up with things for the heroes to disarm and overcome?

Thief-skill obstacles, Wizard obstacles, and Ranger obstacles?????

We came up with our own fantasy world so pretty much anything goes. We love a bit of silliness and humor as well as a bit of intense drama and near death scenario.

I don’t want to deal with recruiting NPCs to fill out the party. They ARE the crack team of (lv 5) experts in their fields.

Any and all ideas are SUPER appreciated! I might be running this thing on Friday or Sunday!!!!

I need a medusa like monster, but i cant do medusa my characters are level 3. Are there any other snake ladies or giant snake monsters or whatever?

Currently in the middle of writing the beginning of my first campaign and I want advice on something! So one of the first major plot points in my campaign that I want to include is a Drug called Shatter Dust.

Shatter dust

"A drug that is very popular in the seedier areas of Solakia. Visually it is a simple magic glass vial with rocks within it. Whenever the vial is smashed a chemical reaction between the glass and rock create a hallucinogenic gas that is inhaled through the nose. The effects are heightened reflexes but impaired cognition and vision. In large amounts the dust can cause auditory and visual hallucinations further adding to the frantic state of consumer. Those who imbibe too much are colloquially called "Dust heads" and are observed to have small crystals growing around their nose and face with blue scabs spread across their bodies."

So my eventual goal is to introduce this drug in an encounter whether it be the players come across a drug den or someone tries to sell to them, I haven't figured out the specifics yet but regardless. At a certain point the players are going to find a corrupted version that is intended to slowly reveal the BBEG, a Lich that was an Elven wizard who annihilated his own kingdom/civilization and is now back to slowly and quietly turn people through the drug, build an army, and overtake his lost land and the rest of the Peninsula where the Campaign world is. Cults will arise from this new strain and other things but I want some help a few things with what the drug does.

What else can this drug do? How could this drug evolve into an undead version of itself? What are specific game rules I can tack on to this thing and its effects? What are things I might not have necessarily even thought of yet?

Your players arrive at a quaint little roadside tavern, ready for a night of rest off the road. But unfortunately for them, tragedy strikes when the head of a traveling theater crew is murdered, and it’s up to your party to decipher clues, interrogate witnesses, and figure out which one of their new acquaintances took out their troop leader. Can your party uncover the mystery, or will the killer go free?

This quest can be run at any level - no monsters to kill in this one, just a murder to solve. I’ll take you through the circumstances, suspects and evidence, and at the end reveal the culprit. Think you can solve it? Without further ado, let’s get started!

Part 1: A Tavern and a Troupe

This quest takes place on a rainy night at the Roadside Inn, a shabby tavern that sits on the edge of a well-worn path. The building is made of both brick and wood, and looks like its walls and roof have been patched up and repaired multiple times over. It leans to one side a bit, where a stable and some mismatched support beams keep it from toppling over. Eclectic, to say the least, but a good place for your party to get out of the bad weather. On their way in, they’ll pass the beefy guards who watch the entrance - just in case any passing travelers are less than friendly.

The owner is a human woman named Ren, and before your players even arrive, I’d come up with a reason why she would trust them. Maybe they have a delivery for her, or she’s connected to one of the party members’ backstories. In my campaign, I had my players arrive with a letter of note from a nearby town’s guard captain, giving them free lodging as a reward for saving the village. Basically, when things go down, you want her to have a reason not to suspect your players are behind it.

Tonight the tavern is quiet, but there is another group staying here: Aberly’s Traveling Theater Troupe, a colorful cast of characters your party will be spending the evening with. Two of them sit at the bar - one is a younger Goliath man with a sturdy build and the other a slightly older human woman in thick makeup who’s flirting with him a lot. At a table sits a half-orc woman and a halfling man, idly eating and speaking with one another. Alone in a corner booth is a well-dressed half-elven man who’s quietly reading, and most talkative will be a human bard. Named Jorah, he’ll be eager to chat with the party, maybe play some gambling games, and generally engage with the players more than the others.

I’ll get more into who each of them are in a bit, but as the night goes on, they’ll all begin to retire one by one to their rooms, with the woman at the bar heading to bed last. That’s important, because in the early hours of the morning, your party will be awoken by an ear-splitting scream: Her husband, Leonidas Aberly, the troupe’s leader, is dead.

Ren will have her guards gather everyone in the tavern’s main room, and since she trusts the party, she’ll task them with uncovering who the murderer is. They’ll be given the option to interrogate the suspects, search for clues, and ultimately figure out who she needs to have her guards arrest until they can contact proper authorities. If your players take on the task of solving this crime, then you have a quest on your hands!

Part 2: The Suspects

Let’s get something out of the way before we continue: There are some spells in DnD that make a murder mystery very difficult to run. Spells like Suggestion, Zone of Truth and Dominate Person can force anyone to confess to their crimes, and end this mystery before it begins. If your players have access to that kind of magic, you might want to consider talking to them beforehand so they don’t instantly solve things. DnD is a game after all, and sometimes it’s more fun for all involved to “forget” about certain spells for a bit.

I’m also not going to tell you who the murderer is up top. I’ll go through all of the evidence, and just like your players, I’ll let you try to solve it yourself before revealing the killer at the end. If I did my job right, you should also be able to figure out their motivation and how the crime was committed, too. With that said, let’s meet our suspects one by one.

We’ll start with Jorah, the chatty bard who was all too happy to meet the party earlier. If interrogated he’ll seem very nervous - but insight checks will reveal he’s probably just stressed from the situation. He’s been with the troupe for a few years now, serving as resident singer and general musical talent. He prefers his solo work, but is happy to have the money - though lately, there’s been less and less.

That night he spent most of his time in the tavern’s main chamber - any players that stayed up for a while can attest to that. He did head outside at one point, which he’ll claim was to clean his lute. But a high insight check will reveal he’s lying, and if pressed - with persuasion or intimidation, perhaps - he’ll admit he was trying to steal from Annabeth. Times have been tough with the group, and Leonidas always spoiled his wife. In Jorah’s eyes, he’s merely taking what’s owed. Your party can choose to reveal that truth or not, but as for the murder, let’s move to the next suspect.

Quentin is up, and more than anything, he seems annoyed at the whole situation. Insight may reveal that his body language is very tense - though who wouldn’t be given the situation? This half-elf is in charge of the troupe’s stage magic: Light shows, minor illusions, sound effects. He used to sing in their productions - and he’ll talk warmly about performing on stage - but after 20 years of work, his voice finally gave out. He blames overuse: Leonidas started booking shows nearly every night the last few years, to try and keep up financially.

As for that evening, Quentin spent most of his time reading. He did return to his wagon outside at one point - to change clothes after spilling wine on his shirt. Or so he says. Regardless, he won’t have much else to add, unless it’s about Jorah: He’ll make it clear he hates his replacement. But that’s not evidence of THIS murder, so let’s keep going.

Annabeth is next, the victim’s wife and second in command of the troupe. Between sobs she’ll talk about her love for Leonidas, how they were together through thick and thin, and that she can’t BELIEVE someone in the troupe would do this. That said, she’ll also be quick to point out that Mariah spent an awfully long time in the bathroom at one point - seems suspicious - and that she noticed both Jorah and Quentin left for the wagons at various points, too. Really, the only person she won’t trash is Nash, the Goliath she was showing a LOT of attention earlier.

If asked about him, she’ll get defensive and insist that she was always loyal to her husband - though a DC 13 Insight check will reveal that she’s probably hiding the truth. Still, she will speak highly of Leonidas, though she’ll mention he hasn’t been the same since their daughter, Mabel left the troupe. He had always tried to push her into acting, maybe too hard, so he blamed himself for her leaving. Other than that, they won’t get much out of Annabeth. But since she’ll bring up Mariah, we’ll go to her next.

Mariah is a quiet half-orc, who mainly performs stunts during shows with her husband, Mason the halfling. She’s currently walking with a pretty heavy limp, actually - she twisted her ankle during one of those acrobatics the night before. She was both shocked and sad to hear about Leonidas - she’s been with the troupe for a decade, and always knew him to be a warm, kind man.

If your party brings up her long trip to the restroom, she’ll be pretty cagey at first - but in the interest of not being arrested, will reveal that she’s pregnant. She was feeling nauseous, which was why she had to step out for so long. Only Mason knows, so she’d appreciate it if the party kept it under wraps. Unfortunately, that’s all they can glean from her, but her husband could have more info.

He doesn’t, though. Mason is a pretty happy-go-lucky guy: A halfling who loves his wife, does stunts in their shows, drinks in between and generally enjoys life. He’ll only have kind things to say about the others: Quentin’s sound effects are top notch, Jorah is an amazing bard, Nash really sells all his roles, you get the picture. He doesn’t have a clue who would want to murder Leonidas or why - but he’s sure your players will figure it out! Thanks, Mason.

That leaves Nash, the troupe’s resident Goliath and Druid. He mostly performs as brutish types during plays, or if needed, he can turn into animals for various parts. He’s only been with the troupe for about a year, but enjoys the work well enough - in general, he seems like a calm guy.

If asked about Annabeth, he’ll openly admit the two are having an affair. But he’ll claim that in recent days he’d been feeling bad about going behind Leonidas’ back, and was planning on breaking things off. Insight might reveal that he seems genuine - or is a really good liar. He’s an actor, after all.

The only time he’ll get mad is if the players’ outwardly accuse him of killing his boss. He’ll insist that he’s innocent, and the only time he left all evening was to go get his whittling knife. But it wasn’t with his things - or so he claims - meaning he can’t show it to the party. Suspicious, for sure.

With all of their suspects identified and questioned, your players should begin to piece together the clues in their heads - but there’s still plenty to find.

Part 3: Scene of the Crime

While they’re interrogating potential suspects, they should also be gathering evidence. Let’s start with the site of the murder - it isn’t pretty. Leonidas’s body is still lying in the bed, and it looks like he was stabbed multiple times. A DC 15 Medicine check can reveal that based on the cuts and wounds, this doesn’t look professional: Whoever did this probably wasn’t too skilled, which is why it took a lot of jabs. Get an 18 or above, and they can identify the weapon used as a knife or dagger. 

Blood has been splattered around the bed, and if they succeed on a DC 18 Survival check, they’ll surmise that this wasn’t a quick kill - there was likely a struggle. So why did nobody hear any yells or fighting through the tavern walls, if it wasn’t a clean kill? Your players may pick up on that fact.

Looking around the room, muddy footprints lead from the window to the bedside and back again. A DC 15 Survival check will glean that, while an exact size is hard to match, the shoes worn aren’t tiny - so probably not a halfling. The latch on the window is also broken, and there are scratch marks across the wood and busted metal. These could be from the murder weapon, but they could also be claw marks from an animal. If they want the truth, they’ll have to make a DC 18 Nature check - but if they succeed, they’ll rule out an animal. Definitely cut by a blade.

The last thing they’ll find is a journal, which is sitting in the drawer of a bedside table. Unfortunately, Leonidas was an interesting fellow, and wrote his entire diary in coded language. Your players can assume that it probably takes a cipher to decode - a word or phrase that will allow them to unscramble all the rest of the writing. With a DC 20 Investigation check, they’ll figure out the cipher is probably 5 letters.

Now, it is possible to crack a code even without the key word - just really hard. If they can roll above a 25 on Investigation, they can do it. But it’ll still take time to unravel everything, giving the rest of the party a chance to keep looking for clues.

Part 4: In The Mud

For more evidence, they’ll need to head outside and into the rain. If they swing around the back of the building, they’ll be able to see more tracks like the ones inside, but the rain has washed them out to the point where you can’t determine much from them. But there is still something out here to find. With a good DC 18 Investigation or Perception check, they can find the murder weapon: A beautiful knife with a wooden handle, still slightly stained with blood.

If they bring it inside, Jorah and Quentin will very quickly point out that it belongs to Nash. The Druid won’t deny it - in fact, he may have told the party about his whittling knife already. He assumed he had misplaced it, but it appears it was up to something far more sinister. A high insight check can reveal that Nash seems pretty earnest - and the fact he was honest about owning it could be a green flag. Then again, it would also be a good play if you’re trying to throw people off the scent: Nobody suspects the honest one. For now, they’ll need more evidence to convict.

Part 5: Personal Items

The last place your party can find evidence is in the troupe’s three wagons outside the tavern. The first is occupied by Mariah and Mason, so we’ll start there. Their space is kept pretty clean: Prop swords and armor are polished and neat, their bed is made, and there’s a small desk with ink and parchment. Under the bed, there’s a half-finished, baby-sized sweater being knit, and a small locked chest: If your players pry it open, they’ll find some gold coins and other small trinkets of limited value. Nothing crazy.

The second cart belongs to Jorah, Nash and Quentin, so it’s a bit messier and crowded than the first. There are three small cots shoved into opposite corners, each with a trunk at the foot for their belongings. Nash has the biggest, per his size, and they can find some simple clothes and wooden figurines in his trunk. Sure enough, the knife’s holster is also there, now empty.

Jorah has a couple instrument cases tucked under his bed, but nothing too interesting. But Quentin’s cot has more going on: His wine-stained shirt is folded neatly on top, as he said. But if your players have sharp eyes - a Perception or Investigation check of 20 or higher - they might clock that the stains look a bit uneven: It almost seems like parts of the shirt were cleaned, while others were left dirty. Could be from the rain or maybe Quentin just gave up halfway through - which is what he’ll say if questioned. Still, something to note.

Last up is the leaders’ wagon, and before stepping inside, your players will notice there are actually three names hanging above the door: Leonidas, Annabeth, and their estranged daughter, Mabel. Stepping in, this space is the most posh of the three: A big bed, throw pillows, and a small table set up with a mirror and expensive makeup. Snooping around, the party will find a small chest that, if the lock is picked, contains a pouch with a modest sum of gold, jewelry and a ledger detailing the troupe’s financial situation.

It isn’t looking good. The ledger shows a lot of losses on travel, food, production costs and gifts for Annabeth. Clearly, tough times were coming for the group.

Part 6: Last Words

Last but not least, the journal. At this point, either through brute force or by careful inspection, your party may have learned the code’s cipher: Mabel, the name of Leonidas’ daughter. With that, they can unscramble the book and read its contents. It talks about the troupe leader’s sadness over his daughter leaving - how he wishes he hadn’t pushed her so far. It mentions that Leonidas knew Annabeth and Nash were having an affair - but kicking them out would’ve ruined all his productions. Above all else, he loved the theater, and so he turned a blind eye.

But the final entry, written just that morning, is the biggest: He knew the troupe’s money had gone down the drain, and unfortunately, someone needed to be cut. Of those in his employ, only Nash, Quentin and Jorah are options - he couldn’t lose his star performer in Annabeth, and both Mariah and Mason bring a physicality nobody else could match. One of them had to go, and when they arrived at the Roadside Inn, he’d pull whoever he chose aside and let them know the next show would be their last. But he needed the day’s ride to decide.

He never got the chance to write down his choice. But of them, who needed this job the most? Who loved it the most? Who would kill rather than lose it? If your players can figure that out, then they can solve this case.

Part 7: The Final Verdict 

With the evidence laid out and all the clues found, it’s time to reveal the killer. Think you’ve solved it? I hope so, because at this point, all the pieces have fallen into place.

The one who murdered Leonidas… was Quentin. His motive? Already bitter over his broken voice, he snapped when Leonidas informed him he was being cut from the troupe. Nash wasn’t going to be fired - then Annabeth might go, and Leonidas wouldn’t risk that. It could’ve been Jorah, but by his own admission he prefers going solo. Only Quentin loves the theater enough to commit the crime.

So he tried to frame Nash. Spilling wine on himself to forge an alibi, he stole the knife, climbed up to Leonidas’ room, and using his sound-altering magic, cast Silence to muffle any noise he was about to create. Then he murdered his boss in cold blood, hastily tossed the knife where he knew it would be found, and tried to clean some of the blood off of his clothes so nobody would notice with the red wine already on it. A near perfect crime.

And he would’ve gotten away with it too, if not for your meddling players. When confronted with all of the evidence, Quentin will confess, and the tavern guards will toss him in a cellar until he can be taken to the proper authorities. As a final note, murder mysteries can be tough for a party: Sometimes they miss crucial clues due to rolls, or don’t connect the dots in ways that feel obvious to you behind the screen. So don’t be afraid to move clues around and throw them a bone as needed - or on the flip side, make things a little tougher if you think this was too easy to solve.

But for now, your players can get some much earned rest - but maybe with one eye open. You can never be too cautious, after all.

Conclusion

Did you solve the mystery? I’d love to hear if you got it right - or suggestions for how to make it even better - in the comments! Thanks for reading, and good luck out there, Game Masters!

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