Blind Man's Bluff - Dungeon Magazine 97

This is one of the many Side-Treks mini scenarios Dungeon Magazine was fond of publishing. There's not a lot to change. It can be moved into the dungeons below Ptolus easily enough. 

The short of it is that some Grimlocks are seeking help to rescue a leader of theirs trapped in the cave of an undead (wight) Ettin. They plan to double cross the party once their leader is safe. That's really all there is to it.

You can toss this in while the group are on their way to do something else down below.

Expanding the encounter shouldn't be too difficult since the background given mentions a Mind Flayer causing the Grimlocks to be in the situation to begin with. It ordered them here and then abandoned them when the wight kicked their collective backsides.

A wight by itself is a pretty tough fight for a lower level party. An Ettin that's a wight should be a bit tougher. Since in 5e humanoids killed by wights rise as zombies, you could up the difficulty by having the 4 slain Grimlocks already zombified.

The lair could also be a place to put a plot hook for later down the line, among the treasure.

Lord of the Scarlet Tide - Dungeon Magazine 85

In Dungeon Magazine issue #85 is an adventure titled Lord of the Scarlet Tide. Written for 3rd edition it is simple enough to convert for 5e. While the adventure as written is somewhat bland, the core elements can slide into a Ptolus campaign with little adjustment.

The premise revolves around a trapped powerful aberration being partially freed. I'm changing things so that someone took a magical tablet (one of five) that holds the necessary information for keeping it imprisoned. The creature causes a fungal disease to spread from its prison far below the city. Getting the tablet back where it belongs and performing the ritual to recapture the creature or defeating the monster is the goal.

The ideas and some encounters lend themselves easily to Ptolus. The big bad could easily be Galchutt. There’s also a non-typical mind flayer using what can pass perfectly as chaositech. Infected townsfolk, a behir, kuo toa (who originally imprisoned the thing), and ghosts are encounters to be had.

I originally intended to use this in my first Ptolus campaign for one of my two groups. Never got around to it before the campaign came to a halt.

I planned to have Castle Shard send the characters to a high end auction being secretly held. They would be told as cover to bid on whatever they chose (limited budget of 2,000 gold) while remembering everything being auctioned and report back. That is where they would learn about the tablet and its connection to the disease, or similar info that helps put the clues together.

Coffee? Don't Mind if I do!

 Time for more shameless self promotion. The blog's Zazzle store has these mugs and some other things for sale. Follow this link to see what's available. If you like something order it. Thanks!

http://www.zazzle.com/tdaalmerch*     <----- Link

Below are the designs on three other mugs. Pardon the duplication of images. The banner design mug image copied fine, but the rest came out, well, not as mugs.

There are cards with these images, you can send to folks for whatever reason or to invite them to a special game session. 

Also there are a banner pin and a banner magnet available.

Magic Item - Dagger of Mourning

The blade sank deep into the goblin's chest and it dropped lifeless to the cavern floor. Without any obvious explanation Narmen dropped to his knees and began weeping and wailing about what he had done to the poor goblin. 

"Get it together , man. We're in a fight! What's wrong with you?!" Embuk stepped close to his grieving friend just in time to shove his rapier through the eye of a charging goblin.

Dagger of Mourning (cursed)

This ornately decorated Adamantine dagger +2 is an enemy of both goblins and golems, doing an extra 1d4 of damage on any strike against these foes, but it comes with a dangerous curse. The dagger influences the carrier to choose it over other melee weapons in a fight. (DC15 Wisdom saving throw to resist). If the dagger scores the killing blow against any opponent the wielder must succeed on a DC15 Wisdom saving throw or be instantly overcome with intense grief at the killing or destruction of the victim. The user will cease all activity and begin loudly crying and lamenting the enemy's death. The saving through may be repeated at the end of each turn.

Item Availability: Rare. User 5th level or higher. Cost 501 - 5,000 gold pieces.

Dungeon of the Fire Opal - Dungeon Magazine 84 (part 8: areas 39 through 41)

The final segment of restocking the dungeon. We cover areas 39 though 41.

Unless otherwise stated, all areas are unlit.

Unless otherwise stated ceiling height is 10 feet. 

All secret doors require a DC14 or better perception to spot.

All areas other than 0, 1, and 3 are grey stone.

Should you decide to have random encounters in the southern part of the dungeon, the following are suggested: 2 Toruk Rul, 1 Sorn Ulth, both, the sound of clicking in the distance, a sudden breeze that stops just as suddenly. 

Toruk Rul and Sorn Ulth are in the 5e update of the Ptolus core book pages 598 & 599.

Area 39: At the bottom of the flights of stairs a wooden door has been propped open. (you can determine where the open door leads) Coming up the stairs are 2 Toruk Rul. If combat breaks out at either areas 39 or 40 the other group rushes to join the fight. These Toruk Rul carry a total of 37 silver pieces.

Area 40: Note: Replace the secret door between areas 38 and 40 with a Blue Steel door. The cost to pass through is to forsake the respect of another. After the initial cost, the password that character becomes the name of the one who has lost respect for the character.

Pausing here before tackling the Blue Steel door is a group of 4 Toruk Rul and 1 Sorn Ulth. If combat breaks out in either areas 39 or 40 the other group will rush to join the fight. These Toruk Rul carry 161 Gold, 250 silver, and 19 copper pieces. The Sorn Ulth (Durgg) carries 2 gems worth 250 gold pieces each.

Area 41: Completely shrouded in magical darkness, this cavern chamber is cold and damp. At each of the cardinal points stand upraised sarcophagi, draped in calcium accretions. The lids are open. In the center of the room is a stone plinth atop of which is a sheathed dagger. (see blog post Magic Item - Dagger of Mourning)

Encounter: 4 Shadows. 5e Monster Manual page 269.

Magic Item (Legendary) - Crown of Harrowing

One of many powerful tools available to Ghul and his minions, this is the original Crown of Harrowing created by Ghul himself. A number of Lesser versions exist.

Made of iron and set with dozens of bloodstones, this is a weapon of intimidation, domination, and murder.

The wearer has the following abilities:

Intimidation attempts receive the wearer's Proficiency Bonus. This may double the Proficiency Bonus for using this effect.

The Crown has 7 charges that may be spent for the following effects:

1 charge - Causes 4d8 Psychic damage to a single creature. For each additional charge it affects one additional creature, Creatures must make a DC17 Wisdom saving throw. Success results in half damage.

2 charges - Inflicts 1 level of exhaustion on a single creature. Targeted creatures must make a DC17 Constitution saving throw. Failure results in accumulating 1 level of exhaustion.

3 charges - Casts Charm Person on up to 8 creatures within 30 feet of each other. DC17 Wisdom saving throw. Success avoids the effect.

4 charges - Casts Dominate Person on a single creature with the effect lasting 8 hours. Targeted creature is entitled to make a DC17 Wisdom saving throw to avoid the effect.

Regains 1d6 charges each midnight. If all charges are used in a 24 hour period roll 1d20. On a result of 1 the crown rusts and crumbles losing all magical function.

Curse: The wearer begins to lose their hair in patches over the course of a month. All Charisma based skills such as Diplomacy, Persuasion, Perform, etc, with the exception of Intimidate which is enhanced, suffer disadvantage on the attempt. Remove Curse cast on Hallowed Ground is required to undo this permanent affliction.

Item Availability = Legendary. User 17th level or higher. Cost 50,001+ gold pieces. 

Magic Item - Lesser Crown of Harrowing

One of many powerful tools available to Ghul's minions.

Made of iron and set with dozens of bloodstones, this is a weapon of intimidation, domination, and murder.

The wearer has the following abilities:

Intimidation attempts receive the wearer's Proficiency Bonus. This may double the Proficiency Bonus for using this effect.

The Crown has 4 charges that may be spent for the following effects:

1 charge - Causes 2d8 Psychic damage to a single creature. For each additional charge it affects one additional creature, Creatures must make a DC14 Wisdom saving throw. Success results in half damage.

2 charges - Inflicts 1 level of exhaustion on a single creature. Targeted creatures must make a DC14 Constitution saving throw. Failure results in accumulating 1 level of exhaustion.

3 charges - Casts Charm Person on up to 4 creatures within 30 feet of each other. DC14 Wisdom saving throw. Success avoids the effect.

Regains 1d3 charges each midnight. If all charges are used in a 24 hour period roll 1d20. On a result of 1 the crown rusts and crumbles losing all magical function.

Curse: The wearer begins to lose their hair in patches over the course of a month. All Charisma based skills such as Diplomacy, Persuasion, Perform, etc, with the exception of Intimidate which is enhanced, suffer disadvantage on the attempt. Remove Curse cast on Hallowed Ground is required to undo this permanent affliction.

Item Availability = Rare. User 5th level or higher. Cost 501 - 5,000 gold pieces.