Creamsteak
Explorer
Background
Upon a ridge hundreds of miles from civilization was the castle of the Archlich Illvithar. The monster had wrecked havoc on the kingdoms of men, elves, and dwarves for a century. He had wrought many unspeakable atrocities on the living. The sun did not shine on the Archlich domain, and that domain threatened to overtake the entire world. As the last vestiges of life held onto the brink and the Archlich was poised for his final ascension to godhood, the Heroes of Verdun struck deep into the heart of the castle. The heroes fought with everything they had and many were slain by the traps and monsters within the Archlich domain. At the pinnacle of the Archlich ritual the heroes struck into the soul of the monster with all that remained of their holy might, and thus sent his forsaken soul into the Abyss. The heroes fled the castle as it fell around them. They returned to their kingdoms. They began the slow process of restoring their world.
And then there's you. You awaken in the dungeon of the dread Archlich long after the fighting is over. You are... not alone. You are the leftover experiments... the trash... the failures... that the Archlich left behind. Some of you were prisoners. Some of you were willing cultists. But that does not matter here. The Archlich has fallen. The castle is in ruins. The dungeons are a maze of wreckage and horror.
Synopsis
This is a small experimental game I wanted to put together. I will only run it for three players. I will select players based on which character concepts I find most interesting for the game. The game begins in the dungeons of the Castle Illvithar. The game ends when either the characters escape the castle or they die. There are no new player characters. There are no replacements. What's worse, if you fall to 0 hit points even once, you are dead, no save, no resurrection... for this castle is cursed. The monsters in this dungeon... those that remain... are horrifying. This may be a very short game.
On the other hand, there are some things that are to your advantage. The experiments of the Archlich have done strange things to your body, mind, and soul. You have become unstuck in time and space. And what's stranger... you are not just one person. You are two. The two interchangeable selfs overlap and are forced to coexist, or die trying.
Rules
First, you will need to create two characters.
Characters are to be created with the point buy method from the Player's Handbook.
All PHB races and classes are available, as well as the additional races added with the Princes of the Apocalypse supplement.
Characters are to be created at 5th level.
Equipment is created with the default starting kits for your characters and one additional uncommon magic item each.
Second, know that whichever two characters you create... are not necessarily the characters you will play. The six characters drafted into the game will be randomly assigned... two per player.
Third, you will only control one character at a time. Only one of a player's two characters will ever exist at one time. Their hit points will be tracked separately. If either character you control drops to 0, they both die.
Finally, as an action, a character can switch places with its alternate.
Meta
This is just an experiment. It will likely be a failure. I'm going for a horror-themed 5e 1 shot with some quirky gestalt rules. This adventure might not be many peoples cup of tea for various reasons. It will involve twice as much work up-front, and the adventure will likely be exceedingly short. Hypothetically, I wonder if a character will even manage to sneak in a single long rest. It's not impossible, but it will require clever gameplay. This is quite a bit of a throwaway game... just to see what will happen.
Upon a ridge hundreds of miles from civilization was the castle of the Archlich Illvithar. The monster had wrecked havoc on the kingdoms of men, elves, and dwarves for a century. He had wrought many unspeakable atrocities on the living. The sun did not shine on the Archlich domain, and that domain threatened to overtake the entire world. As the last vestiges of life held onto the brink and the Archlich was poised for his final ascension to godhood, the Heroes of Verdun struck deep into the heart of the castle. The heroes fought with everything they had and many were slain by the traps and monsters within the Archlich domain. At the pinnacle of the Archlich ritual the heroes struck into the soul of the monster with all that remained of their holy might, and thus sent his forsaken soul into the Abyss. The heroes fled the castle as it fell around them. They returned to their kingdoms. They began the slow process of restoring their world.
And then there's you. You awaken in the dungeon of the dread Archlich long after the fighting is over. You are... not alone. You are the leftover experiments... the trash... the failures... that the Archlich left behind. Some of you were prisoners. Some of you were willing cultists. But that does not matter here. The Archlich has fallen. The castle is in ruins. The dungeons are a maze of wreckage and horror.
Synopsis
This is a small experimental game I wanted to put together. I will only run it for three players. I will select players based on which character concepts I find most interesting for the game. The game begins in the dungeons of the Castle Illvithar. The game ends when either the characters escape the castle or they die. There are no new player characters. There are no replacements. What's worse, if you fall to 0 hit points even once, you are dead, no save, no resurrection... for this castle is cursed. The monsters in this dungeon... those that remain... are horrifying. This may be a very short game.
On the other hand, there are some things that are to your advantage. The experiments of the Archlich have done strange things to your body, mind, and soul. You have become unstuck in time and space. And what's stranger... you are not just one person. You are two. The two interchangeable selfs overlap and are forced to coexist, or die trying.
Rules
First, you will need to create two characters.
Characters are to be created with the point buy method from the Player's Handbook.
All PHB races and classes are available, as well as the additional races added with the Princes of the Apocalypse supplement.
Characters are to be created at 5th level.
Equipment is created with the default starting kits for your characters and one additional uncommon magic item each.
Second, know that whichever two characters you create... are not necessarily the characters you will play. The six characters drafted into the game will be randomly assigned... two per player.
Third, you will only control one character at a time. Only one of a player's two characters will ever exist at one time. Their hit points will be tracked separately. If either character you control drops to 0, they both die.
Finally, as an action, a character can switch places with its alternate.
Meta
This is just an experiment. It will likely be a failure. I'm going for a horror-themed 5e 1 shot with some quirky gestalt rules. This adventure might not be many peoples cup of tea for various reasons. It will involve twice as much work up-front, and the adventure will likely be exceedingly short. Hypothetically, I wonder if a character will even manage to sneak in a single long rest. It's not impossible, but it will require clever gameplay. This is quite a bit of a throwaway game... just to see what will happen.
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