6 Random Dungeon Rooms II

1. You enter a large chamber that appears to be some sort of storage area. Old furniture is stack floor high and it is extremely cramped. As you navigate this room you find two doors to the east. These doors hold access to small rooms packed haphazardly with furniture. Anyone opening these doors will have the furniture spills out potentially injuring the PCs. There is also a chance that the furniture will cause a chain reaction in the main chamber and cause a massive avalanche of furniture.

2. You enter a room with a large banquet table filled with delicious food and enticing aromas. The aroma is so strong you must save or find yourself with the urge to devour as much food as possible. The food itself is an illusion of rotting meats, vegetables, and fruits. Eating this spoiled food requires another save to avoid succumbing to a vicious poison.
                                       
                                            D4 Poison Effects (All last 24 hours)
                                           1. -2 to all attack and damage rolls
                                           2. You roll 2d8 for all D20 Attack Rolls
                                           3. Horrible stomach cramps, your movement halved
                                           4. Vision is blurry. Blinded.

3. As you enter this hallway you notice chains hanging from the ceiling. At the end of these chest high chains are rusted hooks with severed medusa heads. There are dozens of them hanging in this long hallway. Getting too close to the medusa heads require a save each round. The petrification effect is greatly diminished due to their decaying state. Each round you are within 10ft of a head and not covering your eyes you must save or slowly turn into stone. On three failed saves you are completely petrified.
                                         
                                               Slow Petrification
                                           1st Fail: Legs Petrified.
                                           2nd Fail: Torso and Arms Petrified
                                           3rd Fail: Head Petrified

4. This room has a metal mesh floor. It is able to support your weight despite sinking slightly. Through the holes of the mesh floor you make out an endless pit with a cool breeze chilling the room. The metal mesh is made out of pure silver and highly conductive. As you pass halfway through the room you make out flying creatures below the mesh floor. Lightning Mephits are rapidly approaching. All electrical damage is disperse to anyone currently standing on the mesh.

5. This dungeon room walls are lined with a dozen window curtains. Peeling back the curtains reveals cold stone walls. Located throughout the dungeon are different colored glass panels. When attached to the area where the curtains are located the window form an image of distant area or location. The creator of the dungeon used this room to scry on potential enemies.

6. This room has a pedestal with opened leather book laying on it. The pages in the book are blank. The cover of the book is blank. Anyone touching the leather book has one random language erased from his memory and transcribed onto the pages of the book. The only way to reacquire your lost language is to have someone who understands and speaks that language to read the book to you. As each word is spoken you slowly regain the knowledge you have lost.

I have a pdf compilation of the Random Dungeon Room series on rpgnow. Link provided below
50 Random Dungeon Rooms

6 Random Adventure Sites II

1. Portly Inn: A roadside Inn where the staff fattens up the guest. All food is free and in abundance. The food is also laced with a weird narcotic that makes the food so enjoyable they don't want to leave the Inn. After weeks of a food binge and dozens of pounds later the staff kidnaps the guest. They are dragged to the cellar where an insanely obese undead creature devours his plump meals.

2. Exotic Market: In a hill nearby there is a tunnel that leads into the Underdark. About 2 miles underground you reach a small enclave of underdark races. The enclave is a market for exotic mounts and slaves. Cages and Pens line the cavern walls. The market is a neutral meeting ground between merchants from above and below. Dark Stalkers and Dark Slayers oversee the operation.

3. Monkey Forest: Recently an inept collector of exotic animals released mutated monkeys into the nearby wilderness. This mischievous monkey population has exploded and the forest is saturated with them. All travelers through the forest are harassed by these monkeys. They don't attack but steal. They rob anything that isn't bolted down. Entire camp sites are overrun with these monkeys as they pilfer everything. Tales of naked merchants emerging from the forest are common.

4. Transdimensional Inn: A Gnome Tinkerer acquired a unique inn many moons ago. This Inn has a cellar filled with mechanical pulleys and odd gears. Over the years this Gnome has figured out how to operate this device with some accuracy. If provided with the right fuel source the Inn will teleport to various locations, planes, dimensions, etc. The Gnome has recently started calling himself captain and has recruited a band of adventurers to explore the hidden gateways between realities.

5. Hollow Tower: Located in a remote mountain range stands a twelve story tower. The floors have been demolished and an immense golem is being created. An ancient lich has been sending vile mercenaries across the globe to apprehend elemental spirits. These spirits will be used as the life force of this tremendous golem. Once fully activated the tower will crumble into a million pieces as this monstrosity roams the landscape seeking only destruction.

6. Esoteric Smoke Shop: This smoke shop is located in the slums of the largest city on the continent. Hidden in a back alley in a downtrodden slum is this marvelous smoke shop. The place is filled with ornate and archaic hookahs that use a rather strange form of tobacco. This tobacco helps the poor experience life away from earth. A single puff of this tobacco has the effect of astral projection. The user finds himself on the Astral Plane to experience a new existence. Escaping from reality has a price and those who smoke too much quickly become addicted.

35 Magical Trinkets

Trinkets

Trinkets are magic items that provide minor benefits to the user. These ornaments and baubles are miniature in size. They fit in the palm of your hand and with a bit of concentration they erupt in a small flash of light. Immediately thereafter they crumble into fine dust and you are imparted with a slight magical benefit.

The magical benefits are very minor and short in duration. Their duration range from immediate to five rounds. Activating a trinket requires little effort. You must have a free hand to clutch the trinket. It does not count towards any actions. Only one trinket can be activated per round.

Trinkets come in two varieties: common and rare. Common trinkets follow the standard rule regarding power and duration. Rare trinkets are more powerful and might have a longer duration. Roughly ten percent of all trinkets are cursed. The cursed trinket will give the opposite effects of the boon. Some curse effects might need to be adjudicated.

Trinkets can be made of any material. Their color and construction range from elaborate and valuable to simply looking like a mere child toy. All trinkets detect as faint magic.

Common Trinkets

1. Horseshoe: Double yours mount movement speed. Duration: 5 rounds
2. Snowflake: Reduce damage by 1 from cold spells or effects. Duration: 2 rounds
3. Steel Sword: +1 to melee damage rolls. Duration: 2 rounds
4. Boots: +5% to move silently checks. Duration: 2 rounds
5. Fish Scale: Able to breath underwater. Duration: 5 rounds
6. Broom: Cleans your body and gear of dirt and grim. Duration: Immediate
7. Book: You can recast any 1st level spell you have already cast. Duration: 1 round
8. Serpentine Statuette: +1 to poison saves. Duration: 3 rounds
9. Shiny Rock: +1 to petrification saves. Duration: 3 rounds
10. Backpack: Reduces your encumbrance level by 1. Duration: 5 rounds
11. Shrunken Head: +1 to death saves. Duration: 3 rounds
12. Monocle: You can see twice as far. Duration: 5 rounds
13. Stein: You are now sober. Duration: Immediate
14. Spiral Sun: Heal 1 hit point: Duration: Immediate
15. Feather: Reduce falling damage by 1. Duration: 2 rounds
16. Dagger: Next backstab does x3 damage: Duration: 1 round
17. Arrowhead: +1 to ranged damage. Duration: 2 rounds
18. Perfume Bottle: +1 to reaction rolls. Duration: 5 rounds
19. Lionhead: Your retainers gain a +1 to morale checks. Duration: 5 rounds
20. Scroll: +1 to spell saves. Duration: 3 rounds
21. Eyeball: You can't be surprised. Duration: 2 rounds
22. Mirror: You can't be backstabbed. Duration: 1 round
23. Skull: +1 to turn undead roll. Duration: 1 round
24. Coin: +5% to pick pocket roll. Duration: 2 rounds
25. Twig: +1 to wands, staves, rods saves: Duration: 3 rounds

Rare Trinkets

1. Lantern: All random encounter checks are half: Duration: 24 hours
2. Shield: Next time you are brought to zero hit points you are only brought 1 instead. Duration: 5 rounds
3. Axe: Next successful melee attack does max damage. Duration: 2 rounds
4. Pickled Finger: Summons a Zombie to fight for you. Duration: 5 rounds
5. Bulwark: A +1 or better magic weapon is needed to harm you. Duration: 1 round
6. Bull: All coins carried increases by 20%. Duration: Immediate
7. Tombstone: You are immune to level drain. Duration: 3 rounds
8. Hourglass: Your age category is reduced by 1: Duration: Immediate
9. Owl: You gain 1,000 exp. Duration: Immediate
10. Metal Ball: A ball appears before your foes and does 6d6 holy damage in 10ft radius. Duration: immediate

1d6 Adventure Seeds

1. Dust Golem: A wizard is seeking trinket dust. He is hiring adventures to find as much dust as possible. For each pound of dust he will pay 10 gold pieces. The residual magic apparently is a great component for creating a golem.

2. Wanna hit?: All the kids are doing it. Recently the local town has had a drug problem. Kids are snorting trinket dust to get high. Now half the teenage population have become addicted. Who is selling this trinket dust?

3. Bad Trinket: Recently the trinket market has been flooded with cursed ones. Adventurers have fallen victims to an untimely bane from a crocked trinket. Rumor has it a fey merchant recently has been pawning large batches of trinkets across the region.

4. Scarce: Someone been buying up all the trinkets on the market. The ones you can buy are at exorbitant price.

5. The Collector: An ancient king was a collector of trinkets. He amassed hundreds of trinkets over the course of his life. Some of them one of a kind and extremely rare. He was buried in an elaborate tomb with sinister traps. Even in death none shall touch his precious collection.

6. Indigestion: A local man recently ate a trinket. Now it is festering in his stomach and causing immense pain. No medicine or curing magic has helped.

The basic 35 trinkets are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of variations that can be created. The main purpose is to be used as low level disposable magic items.

Lost Mine of Phandelver Complete

In June I finished up running Lost Mine of Phandelver for D&D 5th Edition. One of the players in the game was kind enough to write a session recap of each game. They are scattered throughout my blog and I thought I'd compile all the links for those interested in reading through the campaign. The campaign was ran on Roll20 and each session was roughly 3 hours long. This was my second campaign this year. I ran a 9 session AD&D 2E game earlier. I am hoping to run a Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry sandbox in the fall.

Here my random thoughts on the 5E/Lost Mine of Phandelver.

-Lost Mine of Phandelver is a very good adventure. I enjoyed running it and would recommend anyone wanting to start a 5E game to give it a go. The adventure has a main linear storyline with a few sandbox options. My group follow the main path and didn't do any of the side-adventures. They had the choice to do so but decided to focus on the main plot.

-I prefer running OSR Games since they are less codified in their rules. I found 5E to be a medium crunch game. Not as complex as 3.X/PF/4E but not as simple as OSR games. The main mechanics are straight forward though. Players get a lot of character options and it requires you to keep close track of them.

-I found Inspiration to be a throwaway mechanic. With my focus on the adventure and keeping track of everything I completely forgot to give out Inspiration. I only give it out once when I remembered. It didn't hinder the game but I found it to be unnecessary.

-The Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic was interesting and comes into play a lot. I didn't think I would like it but it did grow on me.

-I found monster mechanics to be relatively boring. Having ran a few Pathfinder campaigns I felt 3.X monster mechanics were more interesting. I replaced a few of the monster with more flavorful creatures from 5th Edition Foes by Frog God Games.

-I don't go out of my way to kill players but I don't mind a few casualties here and there. 5E is very generous with hit points, recovery, and death. The death saving throw mechanic is interesting but I prefer negative hit points and bleeding out. We did have one PC death though. Our cleric made some poor tactical decisions.

-Overall I think 5th Edition is a well designed game. I enjoyed running it. One of the players has decided to run Princes of the Apocalypse and I'm actually getting a chance to play a 1/2 Orc Barbarian. Also playing dwarven cleric in a AD&D 2E Game(DM is running the Saltmarsh series). I usually DM so actually playing in a couple of campaigns is a nice change of pace.

Links to all the Session Recaps

Session 1             Session 2

Session 3             Session 4

Session 5             Session 6

Session 7             Session 8

Session 9             Session 10

20 Variant Zombies

The great thing about pre-2000 D&D is the simple monster creation. Any monster in the game can be adjusted on the fly with little work. Earlier this year I was running my AD&D 2E Campaign and half the monster didn't come from the Monstrous Manual. I was using Pathfinder Bestiaries and eyeballing their stats.

During my campaigns I like to add variation to a common theme. Fighting the same old orc, kobold, skeleton, zombie, etc gets repetitive after decades of gaming. Now taking a common monster and giving it a minor twist can add some mystery of the unknown to the table.

So Zombies are common low level foes. In OSR games they tend to have a couple of traits that define them. Let's use Labyrinth Lord as the base. They have 2HD, Immune to Sleep/Charm Spells, and they attack last in each round. For your basic zombie you can add tiny mechanical variation to help make your next horde stand out.

As with any additional special ability you should adjust experience as necessary.

Pick a variant or roll 1d20 for a splash of randomness.

20 Variant Zombies

1. Adhesive: The Zombies flesh is gooey and sticky. Any melee weapon that hits them get stuck to their skin. A character can make a strength check to pull it loose.

2. Embedded: These Zombies have glass shards embedded in their undead flesh. Any time a melee weapons hits the zombie they shatter. Each opponent within five feet of the zombie takes 1d4 damage from shattered glass.


3. Mold: This Zombie is infected with yellow mold. Any time it is hit in combat the mold releases spores in 10' cube.

4. Fused: Two Zombies are fused together. Double their HD and Attacks. (4HD, 2 Attacks)

5. Resilient: Zombies body requires a +1 or better magic weapon to hit. Its head is still vulnerable to non-magical weapons.

6. Groaning: These Zombie make loud groaning sounds. All within 30ft must save or be deafened. -2 to all rolls, spell casters have a 20% chance to miscast spells. Duration 1d4 rounds.

7. Vampiric: These Zombies drain life energy to help sustain them. Any hit will transfer any damage dealt back to them as temporary hit points. These hit points last for 24 hours.

8. Linked: A Horde of Zombies are linked to each other. Any damage dealt is evenly distributed among the horde. For example if you have 7 Zombies and one takes 6 points of damage you distribute it as 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0. Zombies must be within 60ft of each other to be linked.

9. Exploding: Upon the final death blow this Zombie blows up into a hundred bloody pieces. All within 10ft take 2d4 damage.

10. Swarming: This Horde of Zombies swarm one target. The first opponent hit in combat is marked. All Zombie will attack that individual until it is dead. They ignore other adversaries regardless of their actions.

11. Infectious: Anyone killed by this Zombie rises as a new Zombie 1d4+1 rounds later.

12. Durable: This Zombie is extremely resilient. Max hit points per HD.

13. Imbued: These Zombies have had a spell fused with them. Once hit in combat it triggers the spell. For example if hit in combat a shocking grasp spell triggers. The following attack the Zombie is crackling with electricity.
                                   1d4 Random Spells
                                   1. Alarm
                                   2. Shield
                                   3. Shocking Grasp
                                   4. Stinking Cloud

14, Ice: These frigid undead deal extra damage and freeze your limbs. Deals an extra 1d4 points of cold damage. Also if it hits you must save or a random limb becomes frozen. The limb is useless for 1d4 rounds.
                                   1d4 Random Limb
                                   1. Right Arm
                                   2. Left Arm
                                   3. Right Leg
                                   4. Left Leg

15. Dust: These dusty old undead cause respiratory problem. Any hit causes a cloud of dust in a 5ft area. It disperses after one round. A save is needed or you cough and sneeze for 1 round.

16, Possessing: The fight still lingers on for this Zombie. Upon its death blow its fading essence attempt to possess the nearest creature. Save or become a mindless undead for 1 round.

17. Mud: These muddy zombies slow your movement down. Each hit by this zombie encases you in mud. Each hit slows your movement by 1/4th. Once you've lost all your movement you are fully enveloped by mud and begin to suffocate.

18. Host: This Zombie has 1d6 giant maggots festering in its body. Each hit has a 50% chance of dislodging one from its body. The following round that maggot enters combat. Upon the Zombies death any remaining maggots burst from the body to attack.

19. Quick: With lightning speed these undead attack. Always goes first in combat, 2 attacks per round, and double movement rate.

20. Amalgam: Upon entering combat this Horde of Zombies converge on each other. They merge into one huge hideous undead abomination. Combine HD and Attacks for each zombie. 6 zombies would be 12 HD with 6 attacks.

Bonus

21. Risen: Can't keep a good Zombie down. One round after being slain the Zombie rises once again. This time it only has 1HD.


22. Zombie King: This semi-intelligent undead leads the zombie horde. The more zombies part of the horde the greater its strength is. Start with a base zombie and add 1 HD per zombie. For each zombie slain you reduce the Kings HD by 1. A Zombie King with 8 Zombies in his horde would have 10HD. Also the Zombie King can transfer any damage dealt to another zombie within 30ft.
                         


                         
                                                 

50 Random Mundane Items III

 50 Random Mundane Items III

50 more mundane items to spice up your treasure hoards. From worthless junk to objects of value.

Links to Table I & II

50 Random Mundane Items I
50 Random Mundane Items II

1. Purple Crystal with a Wooden Soldier Inside
2. Grimoire of Divine Words
3. Parasol with floral designs
4. Rusty Scalpel
5. Sharp Bonesaw
6. Flask of Strawberry Flavored Liquor
7. Ornate Pipe
8. Set of Clay Pots
9. Shirt Soaked in Alcohol
10. Hollow Silver Ball
11. Sack with a Severed Head
12. Jar with Preserved Eyeballs
13. Tombstone (Has Birth date, but no date of death)
14. Ornate Copper Key
15. Wooden Training Sword
16. Miniature Orrery with gems as planets
17. Mammoth Tusk
18. Box of Pickled Beef
19. White Pearl Earrings
20. Wooden Toy Rattle
21. Silver Heart Shaped Pendant
22. Bone Hair Clasp
23. Container of Raw Honey
24. Gold Horseshoe
25. Bamboo Tube
26. Canopic Jar with an Eagle Head
27. Reed Basket with Rotten Fruit
28. Spool of Silver Wire
29. Box inlaid with Cold Iron
30. Cracked Vase
31. Backpack filled with Charcoal
32. Silk Corset
33. Greatclub with Jade Spikes
34. Glass Decanter with Stagnant Water
35. Oak Chalice with Scorched Marks
36. Ivory Prayer Beads
37. Bag of Empty Clam Shells
38. Lead Figure with Two Bear Heads
39. Rusty Caliper
40. Silk Gown
41. Marble Bust of a Gold Dragon
42. Ettercap Skull with Emeralds in its Eye Sockets.
43. Golden Leaf
44. Shard of Slate
45. Bronze Plaque
46. Stone Disk with Engraved Dwarven Runes
47. Serpentine Stein
48. Golden Flute
49. Crimson Colored Steel Hand
50. Obsidian Statuette of a Chimera

Corrosive Blade

Corrosive Blade

The Corrosive Blade is a curse short sword +1, +2 vs metal. The blade is severely rusted and corroded. If found among a treasure hoard most parties would discard this sword as mere junk. 

-The Corrosive Blade has additional properties vs metal. Every time the blade hits a metal creature or metal clad opponent it takes an extra 1d6 points of damage.

-Any time the Corrosive Blade hits metal armor or a creature made of metal it permanently erodes 1 point of armor class. Each hit is cumulative and when the armor offers no armor class value it is destroyed. Any metal creature that has its armor class reduced to 10 will be destroyed regardless of hit points. 

-The Corrosive Blade slowly begins to destroy the user. Each day that passes the wielder becomes sick and frail. Its skin takes on a rusty metallic hue. Once a day the user must save or take 1d6 hit point damage that is permanent. Once reduce to zero hit points the wielder appears as a piles of rusty ash with no chance of revival except through a Wish spell. A Remove Curse can used to break the bond between the user and the blade

- In addition to the hit point loss all metal objects on the wielder begin to degrade. Any metal weapons corrode and turn to ash within one day. Metal armors lose half its value in one day and on the second day crumbles to dust.

artwork by Joanna Ballendorf
owned by Steven Marella

6 Random Dungeon Rooms

1. You notice in this stone chamber that there are large fragments of glass embedded in the walls. Hundreds of them. Upon closer examination you make out a shadowy figure moving about. If the glass fragments are broken a Shadow is released. There are also a dozen empty glass fragments. Touching them requires a save or be trapped within.

2. This room has four large oriental carpets. Around the perimeter are a dozen ornate chairs. Once you have entered about halfway through the room the chairs animate and rush towards the intruders. They attempt to push them onto the oriental rugs. The rugs conceal spiked pit traps.

3. As you enter this room you see a ten foot tall statue of an elf. This elf has eight arms holding various colored orbs. Disturbing or passing the statue unleashes a barrage of spells. Each orb has an unlimited supply of one spell appropriate for any color your wish. A blue orb might cast cone of cold, a red orb fireball, etc. The only to way pass this statue is to cover the orbs with a piece of cloth to suppress its magic.

4. In this large cavern you stumble across a small backwater village of humans. These degenerate humans are completely pale and primitive. They have darkvision and only speak Aklo. Upon further investigation you learn that this tribe has existed here for generations. Each human is branded with a unique number. They have inbred for centuries and appears to only exist as food stock for a horrific aberration that dwells nearby.

5. You come upon a set of iron doors. Next to the set of doors is a offering bowl. Something must be offered to pass through the door. Picking the lock or knocking down the door will not work. You can provide hints to what was recently used. Maybe a couple of hair strands or a fingernail left inside.

1d6 Random Offering

1. Teeth

2. Blood

3. Coins

4. Gems

        5. Fingernails

             6. Clump of Hair

6. In the center of this room is a large brazier with a raging green flame. This object has an aura of combustion. Anyone who approaches within 20ft of the brazier must make an object saving throw for any item that is combustible like oils, alcohol, etc. If the item fails the save it burst into flames and begins to set fire to objects around it. A flask of oil within a backpack will ignite all items inside and each item will need to make a saving throw. Once the flame in the brazier is extinguished its aura of combustion ceases.

I have a pdf compilation of the Random Dungeon Room series on rpgnow. Link provided below
50 Random Dungeon Rooms

Session 10: Lost Mine of Phandelver

Recap of Session 10 of Lost Mine of Phandelver for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
This session is the finale of the campaign. After 3 months of play we complete Lost Mine of Phandelver.

We have in our group four players. The cast so far:

Baelgor: 4th Level Human Fighter
Nestor: 4th Level Mountain Dwarf Cleric
Neurion: 4th Level Wood Elf Monk
Daeris: 4th level High Elf Wizard

Recap written by Chris

Session 10 – The Black Spider

Battered, bloody and exhausted from the long hours of exploring Wave Echo Cave the weary adventurers knew not what else lay before them.Having hardly found signs of the elusive Black Spider they wondered if he or she even existed.After barricading themselves and setting watch they settled down to recoup as much strength as possible before what they hoped would be their final push through the cave.Although they all rested with unease they did so without incident.Gathering their belongings they opened the door to old cellar cautiously.As they filed out of the room Nestor called forth the light in Lightbringer lightly showering the corridors before them with a soft glow chasing the shadows back.

Heading back to where they had come across the jelly creatures they continued to move north.They entered a small cavern containing a pool of murky water that appeared to drain out through an opening to the northeast.The four of them not knowing what foul creatures might be laying below the surface of the water clung close to the cavern walls heading for an opening to the east.As they approached the eastern opening they noticed a door further to the east, a collapsed corridor to the south and a web entangle corridor to the north.

Checking the door to the east they noticed that it must be obstructed by something on the other side.Deciding to head North, Daeris called forth fire from her hands burning through the webs with ease allowing them to head north to a split.To the west they came across more webs and to the east a set of stairs leading down in to another cavern.Entering the cavern a spear flashed past Neurion barely missing his head.Three bugbears rushed the group, a male drow on the other side of a small stream barking orders to them in their animalish tongue.

Stepping back in to the corridor Neurion and Baelgor waited for the creatures to approach knowing they would have a better chance in the small confines of the corridor.Another spear flew past them in to the corridor beyond entangling itself in the webs beyond.Nestor called to Selune asking her to give his companions increased vitality.A bugbear suddenly appeared around the corner Neurion taking a wild swing and missing.The party set forth attacking and dodging the bugbear’s attacks as if they had rehearsed their maneuvers with each other thousands of times.A spray of acid, slash of a sword, the crushing blows of mace and staff all landing blow upon blow to the bugbears.

While the adventurers were focused on the bugbears they didn’t notice the drow sneaking behind them until they heard a bang at the door from the corridor to the south.Daeris with quick reaction filled the corridor with webs again blocking the forward progression of owlbears now entering the corridor and trying to flank them.Nestor, Neurion and Baelgor dispatched of the three bugbears hearing Daeris worn them that more had appeared behind them but were currently trapped.Going in to the cavern before them, Neurion, Nestor and Baelgor watched as the drow and bugbear appeared on a ledge to the east before dropping down in to a cavern below.Daeris, keeping watch on the southern corridor, called out to her friends as one of the bugbears broke through.Pointing at the closest bugbear she watched as it fell to the floor asleep, its companions trying to work their way through the webs.

Nestor, Neurion and Baelgor retreated back to the corridor as the drow and bugbear reappeared from the east.Trading blows with the companions, the drow suddenly transformed in to a doppelganger.The three adventurers suddenly had a flash back to their time in Cragmaw Castle with the other doppelganger and how that had almost taken Nestor for good.As if reliving that nightmare Nestor suddenly fell to the touch of the doppelganger and blade of the bugbear.Daeris wasting no time came to Nestor’s aid with a healing potion, quickly pouring it down his gullet.The fog of battle quickly encapsulated the heroes.Before they knew it bodies lay strewn around them, Nestor standing over the body of the doppelganger, Lightbringer in hand dripping with the creatures blood.

They quickly searched the area for any sign of the Black Spider finding some artifacts, potions and coins along the way.A blood-curdling scream suddenly came down the web filled corridor they had not explored to the west.As they approached the webs burst in to flame singing any exposed flesh.They rushed quickly down the corridor to a set of doors kicking them open.Before them a dwarf caught in webbing writhed in pain, a drow laugh echoing through the room.Three large spiders crawled out from behind large pillars lining the room.A hooded figure suddenly appeared before a dwarven statue, a shrine to an old hero or god.“It seems I must deal with you myself.A shame it must end this way.Go forth my children,” the drow called out fading in to nothing once again.

The three large spiders advanced on the group shooting webs towards the doors ensnaring Baelgor and Neurion.The Black Spider appeared again shooting forth magic missles from his hands striking Baelgor and Neurion.Neurion using his strength and maneuverability broke forth from the webs side stepping the large spiders, heading straight for the drow.The three spiders set forth attacking Nestor, Daeris and Baelgor striking with large dripping pincers.Just as Neurion reached the Black Spider, the drow disappeared once again, laughing at Neurion as he swung his staff at the air around him.Baelgor finally breaking free of his webbed bonds began hacking away at one of the large spiders; Nestor and Daeris joining him in the attack.

The party watch as the drow materialized on the other side of the room laughing and shooting forth magic missles from his hands, striking who could only be Gundren’s brother, causing his lifeless body to stop moving in the webs holding him.Baelgor, Nestor and Daeris knowing that nothing could be done for Nundro at this point, lashed out in rage at the large spiders taking them down one by one.The drow disappeared once again as Neurion approached.

A fireball suddenly burst forth filling the room with heat and smoke striking down Neurion, Nestor and Baelgor.Daeris having the gods behind her quickly ran to their aid, each of them helping one another back from the grasp of death.Quickly they encircled the drow as he continued to spew forth his arcane magic.Neurion striking out with his staff and sweeping his legs brought the Black Spider to the ground.Preparing to strike the drow down once and for all he suddenly felt something trying to intrude on his thoughts.Using his many years of training he shook the intrusion off from the drow mage before slamming his staff down on the Black Spider crushing his chest and sending him back to the evil god he served.

The party returned to Phandalin bringing Gundren’s brothes’ bodies with them.They filled Gundren in on the events that had transpired, as he looked saddened at his brothers broken bodies.Thanking them for their service and for bringing his brothers back to him to be buried as they should, Gundren told them of his plans to continue his brothers endeavors to get the mine back up and running and that they would entitled to 10% of the profit the mine returned.The party headed to the Stonehill Inn for a much needed and deserved rest only to find Shank still sitting at the bar as if he had been there the whole time they were gone.Smiling and laughing, the adventures sat down for food and drink trying not to think about the next adventure that might come calling . . .

Necromancers Bone Bow

Necromancers Bone Bow

The Necromancers Bone Bow is a long bow +2, +3 vs humans. Created from the bones of slain humans by ancient liches these bows were gifted to their elite undead minions. These minions would command the liches forces across the battlefield. Using this bow to create new minions or cause massive wounds versus their opponents.

Any arrow strung through the sinew bowstring turns into an arrow made of bones. Once the arrow hit its target and puncture the skin it breaks apart into dozens of bone shards. Each round the target must save or take 1d4 additional damage until it saves. All subsequent damage is cumulative. Any magical healing will negate the additional damage. Once a save has been successful no further damage accrues.

The bow can also be used to animate dead. Any arrow shot onto the battlefield turns into skeleton one round later. Including arrows that miss intended targets. 

artwork by Joanna Ballendorf
owned by Steven marella