Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
My 11-year-old son is inviting his best friend over next weekend, to help him roll up his D&D character and they want to play an adventure together. My son has a level 1 rogue (a swashbuckler type, although he doesn't know about that subclass, nor would it occur to him to min-max for it). His friend seems likely to want to play a fighter with the knight background.
So I've come up with a five-room dungeon plan for them, and need a bit of help on one step, although I'm open to ideas generally. Note that, at the moment, I only have the three core 5E books.
I set all my D&D games, since 3E in and around Ptolus. This adventure would start with the two player characters playing a game of cards (or other game of chance) against an NPC, who puts in a key for his bet. This isn't just any key, however: It's an ornate one, carved to look like a grinning goblin's face, with mirrored eyes. He says it's supposed to unlock the Goblin Door room in the megadungeon beneath Ptolus. But this NPC, an adventuring rogue himself, has taken the key there and was unable to get the key to unlock the Goblin Door, and is giving up on trying to solve the secret of the room himself.
Once the players win the key, the adventure moves to the Dungeon, turning off the tunnel to the famous dead-end known as Goblin Door.
1. Entrance: Spider webs fill the corners of the room, and a giant spider has recently moved in to this relatively undisturbed corner of the Dungeon.
2. Puzzle: The Goblin Door itself is in the next room, opposite the entrance. It's a huge stone door, carved with a bas relief of a grinning goblin, holding a box before him, with a prominent keyhole. The room otherwise looks like a well picked-over wizard's sanctum, and there's a rumor that the goblin was a wizard who served the BBEG who created the dungeon, centuries ago. One of the few items not stolen or smashed by previous adventurers is a large mirror attached to one of the walls perpendicular to the entrance and door. The key fits the Goblin Door, and turns it, but nothing happens. Someone inspecting the room via the mirror will eventually spot, on the opposite side of the room from the mirror, another keyhole, only visible with the mirror. The key fits this hidden keyhole and opens a secret door. (The Goblin Door itself is just a wall, carved to look like a door, with a lock mechanism embedded in it.)
3. Setback: The next room doesn't appear to have been disturbed since the fall of the BBEG, long ago. It contains the goblin wizard's living quarters, his chest of belongings, and so on. And interestingly, a full suit of armor. That suit is actually an animated suit of armor, and once anything in the room is disturbed, rises to attack.
4. The Boss Fight: I'm not sure what to do here. Another room with more combat? Three fights (one's coming up) already seems like a lot, especially for a party of two. Do I count the game of chance as one major beat for this adventure and skip this?
5. Reversal: On the way back out of the Goblin Door complex, to head back up to the surface, the adventurers are blocked by the rogue who intentionally lost the key to them, wanting them to solve the mystery for him instead, which they have. He attempts to rob the now worn-down pair, and will fight to the death if they refuse to give up their treasure.
Given that we'll be rolling up a new character and teaching the basics of the game as we go, and that this is a small group, this feels to me like a pretty good amount of content. But I'm open to suggestions about the mini-dungeon, adding more to it, or other advice.
Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.
So I've come up with a five-room dungeon plan for them, and need a bit of help on one step, although I'm open to ideas generally. Note that, at the moment, I only have the three core 5E books.
I set all my D&D games, since 3E in and around Ptolus. This adventure would start with the two player characters playing a game of cards (or other game of chance) against an NPC, who puts in a key for his bet. This isn't just any key, however: It's an ornate one, carved to look like a grinning goblin's face, with mirrored eyes. He says it's supposed to unlock the Goblin Door room in the megadungeon beneath Ptolus. But this NPC, an adventuring rogue himself, has taken the key there and was unable to get the key to unlock the Goblin Door, and is giving up on trying to solve the secret of the room himself.
Once the players win the key, the adventure moves to the Dungeon, turning off the tunnel to the famous dead-end known as Goblin Door.
1. Entrance: Spider webs fill the corners of the room, and a giant spider has recently moved in to this relatively undisturbed corner of the Dungeon.
2. Puzzle: The Goblin Door itself is in the next room, opposite the entrance. It's a huge stone door, carved with a bas relief of a grinning goblin, holding a box before him, with a prominent keyhole. The room otherwise looks like a well picked-over wizard's sanctum, and there's a rumor that the goblin was a wizard who served the BBEG who created the dungeon, centuries ago. One of the few items not stolen or smashed by previous adventurers is a large mirror attached to one of the walls perpendicular to the entrance and door. The key fits the Goblin Door, and turns it, but nothing happens. Someone inspecting the room via the mirror will eventually spot, on the opposite side of the room from the mirror, another keyhole, only visible with the mirror. The key fits this hidden keyhole and opens a secret door. (The Goblin Door itself is just a wall, carved to look like a door, with a lock mechanism embedded in it.)
3. Setback: The next room doesn't appear to have been disturbed since the fall of the BBEG, long ago. It contains the goblin wizard's living quarters, his chest of belongings, and so on. And interestingly, a full suit of armor. That suit is actually an animated suit of armor, and once anything in the room is disturbed, rises to attack.
4. The Boss Fight: I'm not sure what to do here. Another room with more combat? Three fights (one's coming up) already seems like a lot, especially for a party of two. Do I count the game of chance as one major beat for this adventure and skip this?
5. Reversal: On the way back out of the Goblin Door complex, to head back up to the surface, the adventurers are blocked by the rogue who intentionally lost the key to them, wanting them to solve the mystery for him instead, which they have. He attempts to rob the now worn-down pair, and will fight to the death if they refuse to give up their treasure.
Given that we'll be rolling up a new character and teaching the basics of the game as we go, and that this is a small group, this feels to me like a pretty good amount of content. But I'm open to suggestions about the mini-dungeon, adding more to it, or other advice.
Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.