D&D 5E Free 'Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth' Adventure on D&D Beyond

Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is an abridged version of the full adventure, which appears in Quests from the Infinite Staircase. You can access it for free on D&D Beyond.

Deep in the Yatil Mountains lie the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, formerly occupied by the legendary archmage Iggwilv the Witch Queen. Though Iggwilv is long gone, her lair is anything but empty. Demons, giants, and other formidable creatures haunt the perilous caverns, and the archmage’s magical defenses remain intact. The rewards for braving these threats defy imagination. Iggwilv is rumored to have amassed a magical hoard of unsurpassed value, a trove of such fame that scores of adventurers have perished in search of it.

This supplement is part of a yearlong celebration of Dungeons & Dragons and its 50th anniversary. The adventure presented herein is an abridged, quick-play version of “The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth,” which appears in Quests from the Infinite Staircase. See that book for the full adventure.

“Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth” is designed for four to six 9th-level characters.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Many of the creatures use existing SRD statblocks, which is a bit disappointing to me, but not terribly so.

The picture with the behir is great, but the description of the cavern it is in is boring....wish they'd upped that to match the picture!

This covers the lesser caves, and the greater caves are part of the rest of the book? Unsure if I read that correctly.

Correct

 

[jayoungr]

Out of curiosity, what were you expecting? 2024 preview statblocks?

Custom statblocks instead of existing monsters, maybe. (Just guessing, as I am not the one who made the original comment.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The great monster book that came with S4 -- which formed a large part of the Monster Manual II -- has been so thoroughly raided in subsequent years that the only new/returning monster in the 5E version is the pech, which probably doesn't really need a stat block. They're NPCs from the Plane of Earth who like mining and aren't looking for trouble. (The 2014 Monster Manual doesn't have stat blocks for "dwarf miner," for instance. Some stuff is just background flavor, IMO.)

Demon Skin is a fantastic magic item. It's new to me, but I can see it being incredibly popular. And it's very creepy.

Very retro having a new magical horn. Are these a very popular class of magic item? TSR/WotC has had them around for years, but I never hear about them being used. Heck, I keep forgetting my "horn of summoning those weird ogres from Act I" I have in Baldur's Gate 3.

The rainbow potion is a renamed 1E magic item, I believe.

I like them leaning into Iggwilv's witchiness with a boat that has duck feet. Not a great magic item -- it's slower than existing land or water vehicles -- but it's got style for days, for the right character.

The premade dwarf with the metal teeth doesn't have anything explaining them on his character sheet, alas. Pretty fun image, though.

I believe the original adventure -- mine is in storage at the moment -- included both the greater and lesser caverns, while this only includes the lesser level. I bet they handle the Lost City in a similar fashion, by just focusing on the areas that were previously detailed and leave the undetailed sections for the DM to create, as always.

 

[TravDoc42]

There is one new monster that's in this! The pech!

 

[Retreater]

I claimed it out of curiosity.
Yeah. It's "free" in that I have to buy additional content from DNDB to get the stats I need to run the darn thing.
"Want to run this encounter with the fomorians? That'll be $30."
Have I mentioned how much I hate this a la carte shopping?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I claimed it out of curiosity.
Yeah. It's "free" in that I have to buy additional content from DNDB to get the stats I need to run the darn thing.
"Want to run this encounter with the fomorians? That'll be $30."
Have I mentioned how much I hate this a la carte shopping?

Actually, the formorians should cost you $1.99. (You may have to click on a "read more" button to see the a la carte option.) I've done a lot of a la carte purchasing from DDB, and I vastly prefer it to being forced to buy the whole book for $30.

That said, it looks like the days of them selling stuff piecemeal in new content is over starting with 2024 books*, so it's not something we'll have to worry about any more.

* Check the Book of Many Things page before people once again try and correct me without looking.

 

[Nikosandros]

I believe the original adventure -- mine is in storage at the moment -- included both the greater and lesser caverns, while this only includes the lesser level. I bet they handle the Lost City in a similar fashion, by just focusing on the areas that were previously detailed and leave the undetailed sections for the DM to create, as always.

Yes, the original adventure covers two levels of caverns. My understanding is that the version released today is an abridged version of the one which will be included in the book.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yes, the original adventure covers two levels of caverns. My understanding is that the version released today is an abridged version of the one which will be included in the book.

Interesting. That makes sense as a tournament/convention game. We'll see if WotC formally says anything or, if not, what the full book looks like later this year.

 

[DarkCrisis]

How does DDB still not have a "things I own" section or filter. That's so basic

 

[Delazar]

So, just for giggles, what party of four level 9 characters would completely own this dungeon, and score full points?