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!

Iron Legacy is a thrilling one-shot adventure that plunges your party into the heart of this forgotten dwarven facility. As you unravel the mysteries of the Crimsonite, you'll confront powerful machines, navigate treacherous traps, and face the twisted ambitions of a once-brilliant mind gone mad. Can your group put an end to his schemes before the constructs march on the surface world?

This one-shot serves as a demo and prologue to the larger, sprawling adventure Hell’s Connection. In Iron Legacy, you’ll get a taste of the vast, interconnected narrative and the deadly secrets that await in the full adventure. Are you ready to shape the future—or be crushed beneath the iron grip of a forgotten past?

Key Features:

• Narrative Exploration: Uncover the long-forgotten secrets of a dwarven laboratory, filled with dangerous contraptions and deadly defenses.
• Construct Combat: Battle against mechanical monstrosities powered by the eerie Crimsonite.
• Story-Driven Demo: Your discoveries in this one-shot will carry forward into Hell's Connection, the full-scale campaign.

Prepare to dive into a world where science and sorcery collide in Hell’s Connection: Iron Legacy, the beginning of a legacy that might just destroy it all.

Download for free at: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/499588/hell-s-connection-iron-legacy

I have created a Horror Adventure perfect for a Halloween one-shot. No preperation needed. You only need 3 - 5 player characters and one DM. Detailed maps, loot handouts and Monsters & NPCs are included. Ready to play for a spooky night with your friends.

„As the adventurers make a stop for the night in the small village of Hollow Rivers, they are told about the abductions from the last months in the area around the village and the nearby castle. Will the heroes answer the call of adventure? And what will they encounter on their way to solving the mystery of the missing villagers?“

You can find a preview (spoiler!) on DMsGuild through this link:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/500023/Afterlife-Awaits--DD-OneShot-Adventure?affiliate_id=4497908

I hate evil campaigns. They all boil down to interparty conflict, hurt feelings and once people get it out of their systems they just stop coming. A while back a friends kid asked me to DM an evil campaign and I blew it off pretty quick. Now I don't now if just because I'm bored or BBQ season over but I've been thinking of a Paranoia style quick adventure. An quick built(no long tern characters) are joined together in an reservoir dogs type of heist to steal a tiara/amulet magic set in a fortified castle. Each character also belongs to a secret organization/cult etc and they are tasked by said organization to steal for them, place blame on another group, steal something else way out of position without anyone knowing etc. They r also tasked with making sure no party member talks and remember each member has a specific task perform or the heist is busted and if they are caught killing another member it's a free for all. Is it worth it, No the extra sweat and skull power to pull it off aren't worth it , but...if I do it right this will be a fine memory of a mispent youth. Thoughts?

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!

Moon over Graymoor is an Amazing 1st level One-Shot by S. T.  Mannell. In it, your players will be turned loose in a hamlet that has suffered a handful of vicious murders. It’s up to them to investigate. They will need to gather clues, canvass villagers, and if they’re smart, pick up a few things along the way that might just give them enough bite to face off against the beast...and survive.

For those who want a bit less hack-and-slash and a whole lot more mystery in their lives, this is the perfect One-Shot for you!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Moon over Graymoor: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to Adventure: Moon over Graymoor
• Link to: Moon over Graymoor 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 the boss battle. This includes the enemy stat block organized neatly along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• A Map for Graymoor Bend
• Handouts for the many letters included in this One-Shot

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

Ghosts in the Machine

Check out a book from a library in the Deathlands. Just get back out before the library consumes you.

It's that time of year again, and I want to share this one-pager I wrote as part of my Blades in the Dark series of one-shots. It should be pretty easy to adapt to other systems, depending on what you play.

I'd love any feedback on the writing, I'm trying to tighten up my scenes and complications while keeping them creative and flavorful. It's short, and meant to be read in under five minutes and played in under four hours.

https://olinkirk.land/scribbles/?d=ghosts-in-the-machine

Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, I'm excited to share The Blight of Morithal: A Multi-tiered One-shot Adventure for 5E, the perfect one-shot for your Halloween session! By following the link you can find a preview with a fleshed-out adventure premise and several pages of content.

This short adventure is designed to be played at 10th, 15th, or 20th level over the course of 4 to 6 hours. The beautiful 48-page PDF features a trove of unique content, such as:

• A detailed adventure starting with a compelling call to action, followed by several combat and environmental encounters which culminate into a bossfight with Morithal, a powerful Zombie Dragon;
• Lore and background information useful to run this either as a stand-alone adventure or integrate it within the broader scope of a campaign;
• Different endings that can be triggered depending on the party's choices and actions, and useful to add additional dramatic tension to the game;
• Scalable encounters and rewards, among which figures the Heart of Morithal, a new item of Legendary rarity, that can be obtained depending on the adventure's finale;
• 11 new monster statblocks, along with knowledge checks, variant traits, an optional second phase for Morithal, and more;
• Additional resources to quickly set up the adventure in any VTT environment, such as 11 tokens, 3 maps for different combat encounters, and 3 handouts to set the stage for different moments of the adventure;
• And more!

The creatures and monsters found in this manual are part of a broader collection of content from The Grimoire of Curses, a massive compendium for 5E featuring well over 300 pages of content on the theme of curses and afflictions. If you like my work or you would like to further expand on this, I suggest checking it out! The manual is currently discounted on DriveThruRPG, but can alternatively be unlocked on my Patreon or on Atlantis: War of the Tridents, my latest Kickstarter campaign! This last option also features the possibility of buying several bundles with a massive amount of 5E resources at a heavily discounted price.

I wish you a great day, and much fun in your "cursed" adventures!

I need some help.. I've run myself into a somewhat of a corner. I'm running a DnD 3.5 homebrew campaign where I hinted at where the players could find a artifact they need. Thing is, the item is located in a baddies private collection, think along the lines of the Collector in the MCU. Huge place filled with gods and treasures from all over the world, most of it on full display so the baddie can brag about it. But I'm at loss on how this big building filled with loot is guarded.. There is a magic cap in my campaigin after 4th lvl spells, but there are other ways I can go around this up to say, lvl 6 spells. My question is, how would you guard a place like this? Just throw in a few batalions of elite guards? A singel bad ass NPC? Golems? Traps, if so, what kind? Mind you, the building is owned by a guy that is full of himself and his pride, and is extremely rich. So other that he cant access 5th lvl spells and higher, he has a lot of resources. This campaign is also cut off from other planes except for the shadow plane and one home brew plane which is kinda the same as hell, so he cannot have summoned celestials or any other higher beings. The building is in a spiral, going up, and I'd like for the search to be a challange for them if they go in nighttime. Maybe they will take a guided tour daytime first, to get some bearings on the place, but this is a crazy lot and intelligence score doesn't allways add up with actions... you know what I mean. Any input? Ideas? Comments; anything would be of great help to get me in the right direction. Cheers!

So I am doing a HP Triwizard Tourna oneshot (dont look further if you know me). And we're on the final task which I prepped to be the labyrinth as its so iconic (I didnt copy the other ones).

Theres 2 parties in the final task, each with 5 people. One of them is PCs, other is me, the DM.

Im going to split the party and make everyone start at differnt of the maze. They may find each other inside there but theres no guarantee. I need ideas for encounters.

Note that I dont want the encounters to go for too long. Here's some I already have (these are not all i've got)

1. A Giant monster that moves every round. Like minotaur. Very deadly. Must run. Blind
2. 2 headed snake, one tells lie other truth. At a intersection. Bad guy leads to a trap
3. A cr1 creature fight. Should be quick since players are level 5
4. A very scary room that asks player to stay away from it. Inside is a +2 grimoire.
5. Wordle
6. Sphinx

Im going to be making the map myself and putting these in there. I will also occasionally have NPCs meet the PCs inside the maze and try to fight but theyre not supposed to be too strong

Wanting help on writing a Halloween One-shot based on the movie Hush

I am currently DMing a campaign for 5 players that recently hit level 5. It is my first time DMing and it’s been going really well! I did the classic new DM move and created an entire setting on my own, but it surprisingly has worked pretty smoothly and the players have been having a lot of fun almost every session.

I am wanting to run a horror one-shot and am planning on basing it on the horror movie Hush. For those unfamiliar, there is a single deaf woman who lives in a house in the woods who gets targeted by basically a psycho person trying to break into her house and kill her. It’s a great movie with a simple premise that always really spooked me: there’s someone trying to break into your house; you cant run away, and you are under equipped to defend yourself. Nothing paranormal. Nothing unbelievable. Just a regular (not super regular cause he’s crazy) person who really wants to get inside your house.

In theory, I think this could work well as a Halloween one-shot. The premise is easy to understand and something that is universally creepy. My issue is I’m having a tough time figuring out how the logistics should work. Do I use their current characters and have them somehow not able to use their weapons and spells? What should the main enemy be and/or should there be multiple? I’m afraid that if I plan something really riveting story wise, it will not work very well mechanically, or I can make it work smoothly technically but the atmosphere and story wouldn’t flow well. I recently introduced a flashback section of the campaign where each player is playing as one of their ancient ancestors, with their own unique character sheet and everything. They loved it, but I think if I do another one-shot with new character sheets it would be too many different characters too close together.

Just hoping to get thoughts from you all.

TLDR: wanting to write a one-shot where the players are under equipped, fighting for their lives trying to keep an unnerving psycho from breaking into their house/whatever building. Looking for advice!

I've got a World in the process of being built and I've run a campaign through one part of it so far and I'm expanding it out and running a group through a 2nd campaign on another part of this world. I'm good with improv and thinking on the fly but I'm terrible with pre planning barring large arcs or general ideas. I need people to throw scenarios or questions at me regarding the workings of the world so I can put fact on paper. What's the best place to do this.

Not 100% sure this is the right sub reddit for this and if anyone knows a better one let me know please.

So I posted this in r/dnd but there's so much traffic over there, I haven't gotten any feedback. Just joined this sub, so mods if this isn't allowed, sorry and feel free to delete...

So I'm running a homebrew campaign set in Dragonlance where the players are all family (my 2 sisters, their hubbies, and my wife) who have never played (or maybe only once or twice for 1 of the couples). My wife plays, but is not into it at all. I've tried different things to try to get her to engage, but we play over discord with voice only and through DND Beyond's Maps. Works ok, but she gets bored easily and tends to do other things to keep herself amused.

This last session, she was playing around with another of the player's mounts on the map - a Pegasus with sheared wings they rescued from the BBEG and ended up having the Pegasus chow down on some Kender corpses for fun (it's a murder mystery portion of the campaign and there was a joke made earlier in the session about checking the ham that was served and seeing if it was actually Kender meat).

The thing is, one of the Kender was the secret lover of the keep's main chef and I'm thinking about introducing the idea that the chef was so traumatized by the murder of her love followed by the Pegasus munching on him, that she's put in her resignation and is leaving the keep and town of Tantallon for good.

Some of the players are a little more emotionally invested in the NPCs, however, and I don't want to ruin anything for them (or upset my wife), but I think it would be an interesting way to show them that their actions, even if seemingly playful and just "messing around", can have dire consequences in the DND world.

I was thinking at least 2 of the players would probably try to convince her to stay, but realistically the persuasion DC would be 20 or higher, yeah?

Any thoughts? Should I do it? If so, should I make it near to impossible to convince her to stay?

Hi, my name is Khan and I am the person behind Devabhumi. I am of Indian origin, and I have always been interested in non-European D&D settings. There is such a treasure trove of untapped stories, monsters, and legends in Indian Culture, which can provide fresh and unique content for your campaigns.

Devabhumi is a high fantasy 5e and Pathfinder 2e setting inspired by the history and epics of Ancient India. This setting features:

• 100+ pages of lore
• A karma mechanic
• 8 new races
• 20+ backgrounds and feats
• And much more!

Check out the campaign setting here.

Hey guys, I am running a short adventure tonight involving a Necromancer in a cemetery. What are some interesting spells and abilities I can throw at my 4-man group (level 10 or so) that I can throw at them to challenge and excite them. Thanks for any advice you can give.

I've been creating a dnd adventure after my first session of a new campaign, where the players escape a dungeon they woke up in. The get out in Scorch City, my major city. So far my Adventure is only an outline. Should I detail the encounters? How do I make my adventure better?

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!

It's October, the month of Halloween, so of course I had to prep a spine-chilling One-Shot! The Haunt is one of the highest-rated 5th-Level Horror-Themed One-Shots around by Phil Beckwith. In it, your players will have to survive, solve puzzles, and uncover the mysteries of Montarthas Manor.

In ages past, an ancient town was lost and destroyed by a siege of orcs. Only one building survived and to this day, the manor is the only still standing building to be seen for miles around. Some say it is haunted, a few whisper of great treasures within, whilst others whisper that it is the manor itself that lives! No one knows for sure, only that a great evil haunts its halls. Do you dare enter Montarthas Manor?!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Haunt: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: The Haunt PDF
• Link to: The Haunt 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 a spot to mark HP
• Handout for The Scroll of Invisibility
• Custom Maps of the Manor

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!

P.S. As a special Halloween treat anyone who enters the code Halloween2024 when signing up will get 25% off their first month!

Cheers,
Advent

Hello!! I'm currently writing a job for a campaign I DM for and am just in need of help polishing it off.

I'm running an escort mission where the party is delivering cargo to a nearby village. When they get there, they find that they are the delivery--sent as sacrifices. I'm planning on hosting a 3-4 hr session with a break in the middle. The first half will likely just be typical escort mission stuff, then the second half will be them realizing what's happening (or, I'll leave them on a cliffhanger where I reveal the sacrificing bit and then we have the break).

The main things I want to pin down are:

• Why are they being sacrificed? Is there a particular god that might like a tasty adventuring party?
• Who sent them? Was the person who gave them the job aware of this? Unsure of which option is better!
• What could I have the party deliver? It could just be a simple red herring of "ooh, Halloween decorations", or something specific to the ritual
• What could happen in the delivery half--a particular fight, something that eludes to the adventure, etc!
• Ways to hint at what's happening

Some important notes on my party:

• It will most likely be players level 4-5, presumably with a team of 4-6
• I don't know who exactly will be playing--sounds crazy, but I am one of 4 DMs hosting a rotating cast of ~90 players who sign up for whatever games they're available for
• The party is affiliated with an in-world mercenary group. No civilian killing or anything like that!!

I know this idea is super super rough, I've just hit a wall with where I want to take this. and would love some tips. Open to any and all feedback--thank y'all!!

Hey DMs and adventurers! 👻🎃

I'm working on a video for my YouTube channel, Above the Table, and I’d love to feature the community's favorite horror and Halloween-themed one-shots for D&D. Whether it’s a spooky classic, something dark and creepy, or a recent gem that gave your players chills, I want to hear about it!

What are your top 3 recommendations for horror one-shots to run during the Halloween season? Feel free to share a brief description or what makes them stand out. Bonus points if you've had some terrifying or memorable experiences running or playing them!

Looking forward to hearing your top picks!

Thanks,
Stephen - Above the Table

Alright, so I'm newer to DND, I've played a few campaigns and my friends have been begging me to DM for a while so I'm giving it a shot, I'm making it post apocalyptic and just went through session 0 with my players, what do ya'll think? This is basically what's happened so far,

Session 0: "First Descent"

1. Opening Scene: "The Message from On High"

**Duration**: 10-15 minutes

• **Character Introduction**: Each player, a human at this stage, begins in different parts of the metro station.
• **The Message**: All characters hear a voice from on high: “Do you accept to continue or do you wish to move on?” (This establishes the campaign premise.)

  - If they choose to "continue," they immediately roll a d20 for race and d12 for class. 

  - Around them, those who chose to move on transform into zombies.

• **Chaos Ensues**: As the transformation finishes, the players start seeing people in the metro turning into zombies, making survival their top priority.

For the first real session I basically want it to be the players getting to know eachother and having to survive the zombies as their new objective is to make it to a safe area.

Hey guys, right now I am creating an adventure for what I hope becomes a campaign. For the first session, I ran 5 numbered encounters. My players twisted the encounters a bit, but overall they followed the main storyline. I was wondering, should I keep going with numbered encounters or create a more flexible design? I was easily able to run the encounters, but im afraid the players will go off track. (im kinda railroading the campiagn)

Hello, fellow adventurers! Today, we are excited to share that Atlantis: War of the Tridents is now live on Kickstarter, inviting players and Game Masters alike to explore a mythic underwater world filled with ancient secrets, legendary treasures, and formidable creatures. This adventure module - compatible with both 5E and 5.5E - guides characters from 1st to 9th level, providing multiple starting points and optional quests.

The manual also contains a vast collection of treasures, monsters, and character options suited for underwater adventures, all designed to create interesting encounters and customize your characters by enhancing their connection to the sea and its inhabitants.

In addition to this, enhanced underwater combat mechanics ensure that encounters throughout the adventure and beyond are both engaging and realistic, with various optional and variant rules to suit your playstyle. The compendium also includes detailed encounter tables for both the city of Atlantis and its surrounding seas, along with comprehensive appendices and a collection of VTT resources, including over 20 maps, handouts, tokens, and more, providing everything you need for a fully immersive experience in Atlantis.

Adventure Premise

Once the crown jewel of civilization, Atlantis thrived as a beacon of knowledge and power, seamlessly blending magic and technology. However, the city's hubris angered the gods, leading to its cataclysmic fall and submersion beneath the ocean. Now, the Atlanteans, transformed into tritons and sirens, live within a force bubble, cursed and bound to the sunken city.

Decades later, a power struggle emerges as the high priest Telamon claims that Poseidon's favor can lift the curse. As tensions escalate and Telamon's influence grows, the Archon Hyperion mysteriously disappears, pushing the city to the brink of civil war. A brave group of adventurers is called upon to uncover the truth behind Hyperion's disappearance and prevent Atlantis from plunging into chaos. The fate of Atlantis rests in their hands.

You can find more information, alongside an extensive preview of the manual, by checking out our project page! For any additional questions, feel free to comment below or contact us privately.

Have a great day!

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!

So, your players chose to negotiate with the Wererats; what could go wrong? Well besides needing to clear out an entire area of Orcs and one angry Ogre! If they manage this and decide to search a bit, they may just find riches beyond their dreams and even a clue on where to find the White Dragon that's been ravaging these lands!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for Side Quest 1 Shrine of Savras: DM Notes
• Link to: Shrine of Savras 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 Shrine of Savras

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

It's the night before the Dzien Fire fall harvest festival.  The village is excited for the festival, but someone is up to someone is up to some mischief as there have been several businesses broken into, and it appears someone is trying to prepare a powerful spell to use during the festival.  Can your friends save the festival before it's too late?

This adventure for ages 5+ can be found on our paid tier. As part of that adventure, there are three other town structures that are included in this month's game package.  We will slowly build on this catalog of structures until you have an entire village built for your very own adventures.

You can download this map along with three other versions from our Patreon, free.   If you sign up for our monthly subscription, you can get access to a total of four versions including print friendly, VTT, and digital display ready.

You may also find a free one-page set of family-friendly rules for 5e located on our on our Patreon page. There is a totally free map, adventure, and even pre-generated character sheets to get a family friendly game started.

 All products produced by Weavers' Quest is protected under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-4.0 Licenses. 

100 floors The party levels up when they do the great thing in each section. In between leave in up there are many quests and encounters

Level 1. The party is created and they travel to floor 12 of the dungeon. This level holds a pretty big city called Veil-Reach, a city with many shops and taverns if the party needs any last minute supplies. It's easy to get goods and supplies down here so most things are pretty cheap.

Level 2. The party makes it to level 21. This floor is a sprolling dungeon of catacombs. There is a decently popular Marchetti guild located on this floor there's some shops and a tavern, that's run by a goblin cald long lags. He's a 6 ft goblin, most of his height comes from his legs. In the tavern the party will encounter a dungeon keeper, Caelum Greysteel. He is very sick and needs help getting down to floor 74 which is where he's stashed. He says if you help him then he probably could provide you with something cool or ancient artifacts or money.

Level 3. The party arrives at floor 29 where there is an interesting necromancy town. Strang town A necromancy spell goes terribly wrong and the party has their first boss fight. After the boss fight they are rewarded with an ancient book of necromancy.

Level 4. The party encounters a a demon on floor 35 in one of the Many towns on this floor Hollow stone, a town that is the entrance to floor 36. The demon is trying to recruit humanoids for his cause which is unknown at the moment. The demon is discussed like a male human. Caelum Greysteel the sick dungeon keeper, he sees through the disguise of the demon. The demon notesses and the demon has some of his recruits fight the party he escapes.

Level 5. The sick dungeon keeper sickness is getting worse; the party needs to find somewhere where Caelum Greysteel can rest. On floor 47 a floor that is very small. Gust a pine forest with a decent number of ways to descend down. When the party arrives on this floor they are greeted by a lovely small town. The town's name is Willowshade. There's a medium sized tavern, 50 to 60 houses, and a small market where the citizens can trade with each other and adventurers. Here the sick dungeon keeper can rest for a bit. While the dungeon keeper is resting the towns foke ask if the party can help kill a monster that has been feeding on the townsfolk. If the party declines they have to fight it when they try to leave. They find it ro be a monster that is the Demons pet and he's had him on this floor so he could grow to be very powerful.

Level 6 floor 50 a world of dunes and sand. Small towns are scattered around this floor and so are owayses ,but you gada be careful of those there's lots of monsters that like to prey on theresty creatures. Caelum Greysteel Says there's a portal to floor 74 in the temple of wipers. But it's not called a temple of wipers for nothing, while in the temple you will start to hear wipers in your head telling you things. some are lies and some are true, some can help you while others will kill you or comrade. In the temple on a wall there's an ancient spell that only a dungeon keeper can read but only a spell caster can cast. The spell will conger a portal to floor 74. The temple will have many traps in it.

Level 7 floor 74 the party steps out of the portal to a eary misty dead forest. There's bloody red fog everywhere in the horizon, the trees are twisted and dead, the grass is a dark inky purple, the clouds are gray, and the sun. there is no sun, a huge red moon is where there should be a sun, the stars are bleeding. The sick adventure says with a worried town this isn't what it should be. It should be flowers, beautiful trees, a perfect sun, no fog, no dark clouds and no moon. He's right this world was corrupted by the demon, all living things are corrupted. It's Been touched by an arch demon. the party will make their way through the floor encountering corrupt creatures and plants. They're trying to make their way to the dungeon keepers base or the town it resides in. once the party gets there they'll find the town torn apart and many dead bodies. The leader of the dungeon guild stashed here is still alive but very wounded. The party talks to him and he reveals a lot, the sick dungeon keeper is sick with devil's cold. It can be harmful but it's rare, it slowly turns you into a Tiefling-like creature. You get devils cold from devil weed which grows in areas Demons are often at, there's lots of devil weed in this dungeon. Secon the reason the demon is upset with this dungeon is because the thresher at the end is the gods power, the God who made the dungen put his power as the reward. The demon came here for the Materials to build a blade cable of slaying arcan beings. The demon needs this to be able to slay whatever is guarding the thresher. The party will need to go to floor 87 where there is a gnome mine. The gnomes have Brakeite; this ore will be able to be crafted into a blade with the same capability as the Demon's blade on floor 90, in a dwarven forge. the dungeon keeper leader will meet the party at the forge

Level 8 the party has to clear out a mimic infestation in the gnome mine then the gnomes will give the party the Brakeite they need.

Level 9 the party meets the dungeon leader on floor 90 where there's a Doreen forge, the party might need to convince or kill the dwarves so that they can use the forge, or any other methods of getting in. After crafting the blade the dungeon leader has a potion that will allow them to get to the front gat of the battle room. They should inthoury because of that. They should be able to fight the demon without the demon fighting the garden.

Level 10 the party is camping outside the gate waiting for the demon aventally the demon comes and the fight starts. Depending on how it goes, if good the party can then kill the last boss of the dungeon and one person can take the gods power or not they can take the gold and thresher.

This is a like template fore the main things in the campaign

Any thing I did goon on and any thing I could improve on would be appreciated :)

If you like playing or hosting oneshots and enjoy podcasts, join one shot central for all your oneshot needs.

This comunity is for anyone and everyone who enjoys playing oneshots. Join us to keep up with DM's anouncing oneshots they wana hoast and play those oneshots.

Terms and conditions:
There are only 2 conditions to joining this community.

1. Dont be an asshole. If you dont act about coretly, you will be thrown out.
2. Any oneshots hosted from this community will be asked to be recorded and sent to the owner of the discord. He will take care of editing the oneshot and distributing the Podcast. FYI the podcast is called "What doesnt kill you gives you XP" and is distributed on spotify and youtube.

https://discord.gg/bkeCVuyY

Alright, I'm a brand new DM in the process of creating a space-themed campaign where players are mercenaries who take on missions/bounties to make a living for themselves in a realm of mischief.

At the current moment, I'm creating a few missions they can pick from to further expand their plot and such. So far I have three ideas on mission, but currently in a Lil block on how I should proceed further to expand the adventure:

Mission 1: <Bounty>

Players are given the description of the target + last known location for capture. They're wanted for stealing confidential blueprints from the BioField Center for Wildlife and Conservation and escaping with a few dozen wildlife creatures. Target is best captured alive, but should the situation arises, their death is an alternative turn-in.

Mission 2: <Escort>

Players are given a request of a local politician in need of escort to several different locations across a single planet. Not only must players help transport the political safely, but should outrage ensue, they must offer protection and bodyguard services.

Mission 3: <Extraction>

Players are given a transponder node to locate a package hidden within an abandoned temple. After acquiring the package, players must ensure the protection and quality-control of the package when given the prompt to deliver it to a specific location.

Self-explanatory I hope, I'd like to hear some feedback + suggestions on how should I approach in expanding these missions for players to engage with. Thank you for checking in!