Shadowdweller00
Adventurer
I'm in the process of brainstorming ideas for an upcoming adventure I'm working on. I thought it would be fun to share with people here. Feel free to critique, share or borrow ideas, etc.
The Curse of Starlight Manor
Adventurers: Party of five, low 2nd tier (lvl 6ish)
Hook: The PCs are hired by a wizard to cleanse the evil presence from a manor he just purchased or inherited.
Setting: Starlight Manor sits off in the wilderness along the bare summit of a pine-encrusted ridge. The mansion is built partly over the edge of a cliff face, and offers stunning views of a forested vale below. There is at least one tower, topped by a small observatory. Likely unknown to the PCs, the mansion lies at the intersection of local ley lines. The surrounding areas are permeated with the subtle effects of increased magic regardless of anything that might be happening in the manor itself. The woods surrounding the manor are infested with wil o' wisps; who follow anyone or anything venturing there. The wisps occasionally try to lure the unwary off the cliffside, but mostly just watch and feed off anything dying near the manor. They do not under any circumstances follow anything inside.
History: Starlight Manor was originally built by renowned wizard and astrologer Andrei Koroloff. Koroloff lead a small group of students at a nearby university in the study of the effects of stars and heavenly bodies on the practice of magic. Secretly, Koroloff and his cabal were all (Great Old One) warlocks trying to unlock the secrets of distant realms. Koroloff and his brethren succeeded in contacting and making some sort of tenuous pact with one such entity. Starlight Manor lies at a magical focal point where that entity can most easily be contacted. The creature itself is utterly alien; it has existed for eons, knows secrets that would put Aboleths to shame, and hungers ceaselessly for minds and souls. Koroloff and his cabal in their heyday traded sentient beings to the creature in exchange for bits of its vast wisdom. Some 30-50 years ago, however, Koroloff and his cabal mysteriously vanished.
General Features: Starlight manor essentially covers three overlapping dimensions. The first and most obvious is the physical, where the physical dwellings of the cabal remain; in addition to libraries, the observatory, and remnants of the cabal's research. The second dimension is a sort of "Silent Hill" style nightmare copy of the mansion. This probably lies in a part of the Shadow plane or some local equivalent (such as Mabar in Eberron). This shadow copy of the mansion is populated by wraiths and possibly other foul undead or undead-like creatures; these are the remains of Koroloff's cabal. They "ascended" to this form when the cult vanished years ago. There probably aren't any more than five or six of them. The third overlapping dimension, is a far-realm style place that looks like an empty, starry void. It is here that Koroloff's creature dwells, waiting to devour anyone that enters.
The manor is filled with all sorts of magical oddities. There might also be parts that are haunted - replaying horrific or ghostly scenes from the manor's past. For the most part, the wraiths that inhabit the nightmare plane are invisible and have a difficult time directly harming anyone in the physical realm. They can see anyone in the physical realm clearly, at least as appropriate for the manor layout. The wraiths themselves can be seen as blurry shadows on the physical plane by beasts, including familiars or animal companions, or individuals who are strongly neurodivergent (such as the heavily autistic). They can also be seen in the reflections of mirrors. And the mansion has a LOT of mirrors in various places, all covered when the PCs arive. The wraiths have the power to drag PCs into the nightmare world, if they catch a PC alone in a room. I haven't fully worked out how this works yet but it probably involves an opposed check or saving throw. The wraiths can telekinetically drag PCs who are caught alone into the nightmare realm through closets or alcoves, creating a temporary portal. There are also a number of portals and magical devices in both versions of the mansion that allow transportation to and from the nightmare realm from the physical realm. PCs who have been dragged into the nightmare realm can ALSO be seen (clearly) through mirrors. The wraiths attack any living creature they catch in the nightmare realm as normal.
In the lower reaches of the (physical) manor are holding cells formerly used for captives to be fed to Koroloff's creature. There is also a vault door, covered with heavy chains. This leads directly to the far realm. There is a shrine somewhere in the nightmare realm that is directly dedicated to the creature.
When a sentient, living creature spends too long in the nightmare realm; or if the vault door in the depths of the physical manor is opened, Koroloff's creature will open a planar rift if necessary and stick one or more appendages through to attack the party. The creature itself cannot be killed; but if the PCs deal something like 80-100 damage to its appendage(s), it will withdraw them and stop the attack. The appendages deal hefty damage and grapple on hit. If the creature has any PCs grappled at the beginning of its turn, it will pull them to the threshold of the portal it is attacking through. If the creature begins another turn with any victims grappled at the threshold, it will pull them through and devour their mind and soul (causing automatic death). There is, of course, an escape DC to get out of being grappled. Koroloff's creature is particularly attracted to or intrigued by acts of faith, worship, or obeisance; it can somehow "feel" these things to an extent. Meaning that it tends to preferentially target divine spellcasters or practitioners of pact magic.
I haven't fully worked out how the place can be "cleansed" yet. Perhaps by killing all the wraiths in the nightmare realm and sealing off the far realm somehow. If anyone has any ideas for magic devices for the PCs to interact with in the manion, I'd love to hear them. Maybe also suggestions for balancing the wraith's ability to drag unfortunate PCs into solo-fights. I want things scary but not certain doom-level lethal.
Otherwise - thoughts, feelings, suggestions?
The Curse of Starlight Manor
Adventurers: Party of five, low 2nd tier (lvl 6ish)
Hook: The PCs are hired by a wizard to cleanse the evil presence from a manor he just purchased or inherited.
Setting: Starlight Manor sits off in the wilderness along the bare summit of a pine-encrusted ridge. The mansion is built partly over the edge of a cliff face, and offers stunning views of a forested vale below. There is at least one tower, topped by a small observatory. Likely unknown to the PCs, the mansion lies at the intersection of local ley lines. The surrounding areas are permeated with the subtle effects of increased magic regardless of anything that might be happening in the manor itself. The woods surrounding the manor are infested with wil o' wisps; who follow anyone or anything venturing there. The wisps occasionally try to lure the unwary off the cliffside, but mostly just watch and feed off anything dying near the manor. They do not under any circumstances follow anything inside.
History: Starlight Manor was originally built by renowned wizard and astrologer Andrei Koroloff. Koroloff lead a small group of students at a nearby university in the study of the effects of stars and heavenly bodies on the practice of magic. Secretly, Koroloff and his cabal were all (Great Old One) warlocks trying to unlock the secrets of distant realms. Koroloff and his brethren succeeded in contacting and making some sort of tenuous pact with one such entity. Starlight Manor lies at a magical focal point where that entity can most easily be contacted. The creature itself is utterly alien; it has existed for eons, knows secrets that would put Aboleths to shame, and hungers ceaselessly for minds and souls. Koroloff and his cabal in their heyday traded sentient beings to the creature in exchange for bits of its vast wisdom. Some 30-50 years ago, however, Koroloff and his cabal mysteriously vanished.
General Features: Starlight manor essentially covers three overlapping dimensions. The first and most obvious is the physical, where the physical dwellings of the cabal remain; in addition to libraries, the observatory, and remnants of the cabal's research. The second dimension is a sort of "Silent Hill" style nightmare copy of the mansion. This probably lies in a part of the Shadow plane or some local equivalent (such as Mabar in Eberron). This shadow copy of the mansion is populated by wraiths and possibly other foul undead or undead-like creatures; these are the remains of Koroloff's cabal. They "ascended" to this form when the cult vanished years ago. There probably aren't any more than five or six of them. The third overlapping dimension, is a far-realm style place that looks like an empty, starry void. It is here that Koroloff's creature dwells, waiting to devour anyone that enters.
The manor is filled with all sorts of magical oddities. There might also be parts that are haunted - replaying horrific or ghostly scenes from the manor's past. For the most part, the wraiths that inhabit the nightmare plane are invisible and have a difficult time directly harming anyone in the physical realm. They can see anyone in the physical realm clearly, at least as appropriate for the manor layout. The wraiths themselves can be seen as blurry shadows on the physical plane by beasts, including familiars or animal companions, or individuals who are strongly neurodivergent (such as the heavily autistic). They can also be seen in the reflections of mirrors. And the mansion has a LOT of mirrors in various places, all covered when the PCs arive. The wraiths have the power to drag PCs into the nightmare world, if they catch a PC alone in a room. I haven't fully worked out how this works yet but it probably involves an opposed check or saving throw. The wraiths can telekinetically drag PCs who are caught alone into the nightmare realm through closets or alcoves, creating a temporary portal. There are also a number of portals and magical devices in both versions of the mansion that allow transportation to and from the nightmare realm from the physical realm. PCs who have been dragged into the nightmare realm can ALSO be seen (clearly) through mirrors. The wraiths attack any living creature they catch in the nightmare realm as normal.
In the lower reaches of the (physical) manor are holding cells formerly used for captives to be fed to Koroloff's creature. There is also a vault door, covered with heavy chains. This leads directly to the far realm. There is a shrine somewhere in the nightmare realm that is directly dedicated to the creature.
When a sentient, living creature spends too long in the nightmare realm; or if the vault door in the depths of the physical manor is opened, Koroloff's creature will open a planar rift if necessary and stick one or more appendages through to attack the party. The creature itself cannot be killed; but if the PCs deal something like 80-100 damage to its appendage(s), it will withdraw them and stop the attack. The appendages deal hefty damage and grapple on hit. If the creature has any PCs grappled at the beginning of its turn, it will pull them to the threshold of the portal it is attacking through. If the creature begins another turn with any victims grappled at the threshold, it will pull them through and devour their mind and soul (causing automatic death). There is, of course, an escape DC to get out of being grappled. Koroloff's creature is particularly attracted to or intrigued by acts of faith, worship, or obeisance; it can somehow "feel" these things to an extent. Meaning that it tends to preferentially target divine spellcasters or practitioners of pact magic.
I haven't fully worked out how the place can be "cleansed" yet. Perhaps by killing all the wraiths in the nightmare realm and sealing off the far realm somehow. If anyone has any ideas for magic devices for the PCs to interact with in the manion, I'd love to hear them. Maybe also suggestions for balancing the wraith's ability to drag unfortunate PCs into solo-fights. I want things scary but not certain doom-level lethal.
Otherwise - thoughts, feelings, suggestions?
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