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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9478219" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/W4UL1jN.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/361164/Behind-Tser-Falls--expanded-maps-and-content-for-Curse-of-Strahd" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: AdventureCoS-Required? YesOf the various sidequests in Curse of Strahd, the one involving Mordenkainen the Mad Mage feels quite…lacking. It’s triggered in a roundabout way, of walking around in the wilderness until the party runs into him. And then they need to survive a potentially-hostile CR 12 archmage and also administer a 5th level spell…which his Mind Blank buff makes him immune to. And even should they manage to save him, their reward is either a one-use Charm of Heroism for each PC or a Fated Ally who only shows up for the final encounter. While Behind Tser Falls doesn’t fix his role as a Fated Ally, it does provide a more substantial alternate quest and reward involving the Mad Mage.This adventure alters the Mad Mage’s fall from grace slightly, in that after his defeat at the hands of Strahd he lost his spellbook and Staff of Power somewhere near Tser Falls. An oni by the name of Lughanis found the items, and added them to his treasure hoard in a cavernous lair behind the waterfall. The adventure provides a variety of initial hooks: via Madam Eva’s Tarokka result if he’s a Fated Ally,* or via an NPC telling the party about the Mage and his general location as part of an unrelated quest. Such as Victor Vallakovich craving his magical knowledge.*Or an alternative to just give them the Staff if the DM doesn’t like the idea of an archmage DMPC.The adventure begins once the PCs are in the vicinity of Mount Baratok in northern Barovia. The encounter with the Mage can be run similar to the one in the module, but with one noticeable alteration: he will immediately accuse the party of being agents of Strahd’s forces, tipping them off that he is suffering a case of mistaken identity. They can make him nonhostile via Persuasion or mentioning that their goal is to defeat Strahd. If pacified, he will talk about how he lost his staff and spellbook, albeit with a lot of hesitation in his sentences reflecting his madness. In exchange, the Mad Mage can offer to help the PCs in a variety of ways, such as lending them his staff or researching his spellbook for the possibility of a way out of Barovia.When the PCs arrive at Tser Falls, the oni Lughanis will take note of their presence. Disguising himself as a Barovian villager looking for his lost son, he hopes to ascertain the party’s strength and capabilities in order to later kill them, looting them of any precious valuables and turning their corpses into undead. He will offer them rope and pitons for them to scale the cliff, and unless they have an assured safe means of descent there is a risk of falling for 10d6 damage. If chased off, told to stay back, or otherwise not made to come with, Lughanis will turn invisible and use his magic to float above the ground to mask his tracks. If he accompanies the PCs he will pretend to be helpful in combat, having a crossbow which will intentionally miss enemies in the cave.Lughanis’ cave is a 4 room dungeon, otherwise natural save for the ceiling level being artificially carved and elevated to fit its Large size occupant. The cave is also home to five boneless (undead that can squeeze through tight cracks and attacks with an enveloping grapple that also blinds the target), a pair of will-o-wisps, and an NPC in the torture chamber who Lughanis captured earlier. The book suggests making the NPC someone the PCs know and would be interesting to have, with two suggestions being either Ezmerelda d’Avenir or Mad Mary. In either case, a captured character’s equipment won’t be with them but part of Lughanis’ treasure trove. There’s also a tripwire trap between the torture chamber and the oni’s personal quarters, which drops a cage on whoever activates it. Lughanis will take his true form and attack the party at an opportune time; he has the base stats of an oni, but also wields the Staff of Power and has unique lair actions such as AoE tremors, vision-obscuring misty clouds, and can summon Death’s Head minions (flying undead with debuffing bite attacks) from beheaded trophies scattered around the room.Lughanis’ treasure hoard is accessible only via a crack in the wall of his quarters and contains several chests’ worth of coins, gems and pearls, and some magical items like Goggles of the Night, crossbow Bolts of Undead Slaying, and the Mad Mage’s spellbook. Said spellbook has all of the archmage NPC’s spells, plus Plane Shift and any others the DM deems appropriate. PCs who attempt to widen the crack to access the room risk destabilizing the cavern’s structural integrity. There’s a percentage chance of flooding from the nearby waterfall surging in, which basically gives them a limited amount of time to escape the dungeon before it’s waterlogged.The adventure can resolve in a variety of ways. Returning Mordenkainen’s spellbook causes him to prepare Plane Shift the following day, but he’s unsuccessful in its casting. And depending on what the DM deems best for the campaign and the Tarokka results, the PCs may gain his Staff of Power and/or even his aid against Strahd in the final battle to come!The adventure ends with an appendix of magic items and NPC/monster stat blocks used in this adventure for easy reference. It also highlights some Troubleshooting for unexpected actions that can derail the adventure, such as having the Mad Mage keeping private notes on his person hinting at the Tser Falls cave should the PCs kill him rather than negotiating. Or the balance ramifications of letting the party have two Staves of Power given that one can also be found in the crypts of Castle Ravenloft. The book suggests replacing it with another less powerful magical staff.Overall Thoughts: Behind Tser Falls is short but sweet, a miniature quest and dungeon crawl useful for DMs who find the default Mad Mage encounter to be lacking. The major villain is a good touch, too, relying on traps and trickery to weaken the party rather than being an obvious boss waiting for them at the end of the dungeon.Join us next time as we see how the authors change around Tsolenka Pass in Atop Mount Ghakis!</blockquote>

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