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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9668484" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/5VuwG0t.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 534px" />Everybody Conveniently Dies in a Cemetery is a setting-neutral adventure that takes place in the remote town of Short Rope. Some foul force is reanimating corpses in the Long Rest Cemetery, and deathly phenomena is now popping up in the town itself. Short Rope’s mayor hires the party to venture into the cemetery and put a stop to the source of their troubles. A single PC has a long-lost Uncle Marcus as part of their backstory, who was best known for wanting to become a wizard as well as the catch-phrase “Jumpin’ Jehosephat!”The adventure starts with the assembled townsfolk outfitting the party with intelligent magic weapons plus a Toad of Knocking for their quest. The weapons deal 1 bonus point of force damage, but all have personality traits that display varying levels of reluctance in being used. For example, a pessimistic weapon views combat as delaying the inevitable and will loudly make their opinion known, while a dismissive weapon will wish they were being used by someone more competent. The Toad of Knocking is an intelligent animal who can speak Common and can cast the Knock spell once per day by croaking, which is intended to be used to open the Cemetery’s front gates. But the toad will play a prank on the party by lying about how to use his magic, saying that he needs to be “in the mood” in order to cast the spell and will ask the party to sing a song about toads to him.Once inside, the party will meet the ghost of a child named Timothy, who reveals that not all of the ghosts are fond of the new entity that has taken control of the cemetery. The adventure suggests throwing some low-level undead as optional encounters if the PCs wander aimlessly or to otherwise spice things up. Timothy can lead the party to the supposed source, a flameskull who has no offensive abilities and is actually the spirit of Uncle Marcus. The flameskull will pretend to be the evil overlord, but if attacked he will flee, shouting his catchphrase. By either persuading or chasing Marcus down, the party will come face to face with Sir Annus Horribilis, the Death Knight who is reanimating the Cemetery’s undead. He is an honorable sort of evil, offering to let the party go first in initiative order if they appear both courageous and willing to fight him. The survivable alternative is for the DM to give Sir Annus a Specter stat block instead.Thoughts: This adventure is perhaps the clearest example of Faster Purple Worm’s origins as an improv comedy. The Toad of Knocking, unhelpful magic item personalities, and Uncle Marcus can help liven up what would otherwise be a very linear adventure. Such humor helps disguise the fact that there’s less wiggle room for alternative resolutions in comparison to Costume Ball or Eye of the Beholder. All in all, it’s hard to rate this adventure given the subjectiveness of humor, but I imagine that me and my group would like it.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/irVxcUf.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 607px" />Everybody Dies Eating Mushroom Soufflé takes place in the Feywild, where an archfey known as Mother Frost plane shifts the party to a forest campfire attended by a large audience of awakened woodland creatures. An unnamed hobgoblin emissary of Mother Frost is playing a flute, and it will soon become clear through social interaction that a fearsome red dragon known as Gorgreth is contesting Mother Frost’s domain. The archfey is in need of mighty heroes to defeat the dragon and hobgoblin will give each PC one of five magic boons to help their mission. The boons take the form of blue flowers which are activated via a command word (or musical sound) as a bonus action or reaction, and typically mimic the effects of a higher-level spell such as Haste or Gust of Wind. Afterwards, the hobgoblin will serve the party mushroom soufflé to encourage them to not fight on an empty stomach. Anyone who partakes gains a random d6 effect, such as being emboldened by the sound of music in the form of advantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saves, or being compelled to dance whenever something scares the character.There is one side-effect of the soufflé which the hobgoblin withheld right before she disappears: its scent is easily detectable by dragons, and Gorgreth is already flying towards their location whether or not the PCs eat the food. The dragon’s preceded by a group of kobold scouts who wish to gather information about the party, and won’t be initially hostile. A satyr by the name of Nigel will also arrive, explaining that he can banish Gorgreth from the plane with a song-ritual, but can only do so by learning the dragon’s real name, as Gorgreth is likely just a surname.Thus, this adventure’s “victory condition” is using some form of trickery to convince Gorgreth to reveal his true name, either determined from picking from a random hat draw or asking the players to come up with one once discovered. Like most dragons, Gorgreth is arrogant, and upon realizing that the PCs are way underleveled once combat starts, he will be angered at Mother Frost for presenting him with such “lackluster challengers” before swiftly defeating them. Nigel will safely flee once the real name is divulged. The survivable version of Gorgreth is making him a dragonnel, and having Nigel and/or a Giant Owl aid the PCs during combat if necessary.Thoughts: This adventure feels rather lacking, as unlike the others the events come to the PCs as opposed to the PCs coming to the events. Additionally, much of the information about Gorgreth and the stakes are provided voluntarily, and the kobold scouts don’t really share much useful information themselves besides the fact that Gorgreth will arrive within minutes. While I do appreciate there being a win condition in the form of tricking Gorgreth into revealing his true name, this hinges entirely on roleplay or a DC 15 skill check if the DM’s feeling generous.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/hx6sF5q.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 275px" />Everybody Dies as a Surprise is the most cliche of fantasy quests: Queen Belinda’s daughter, Princess Rusa, has been kidnapped and locked in a tower. The throne is offering to pay the valiant heroes who rescue her with noble titles and the land to go with it. In reality, Princess Rusa is a rakshasa adopted by the Queen as part of an infernal contract. The two set up this false kidnapping plot, which helps get rid of pesky adventurers and political rivals for the Queen while giving the Princess fun in killing prey willingly walking into danger.The adventure starts in Queen Belinda’s throne room, who gives a cover story of a winged beast flying off with Princess Rusa one month ago. They were last seen headed towards the Dread Tower in the Royal Forest. The tower used to be a set of ruins filled with magical traps and defenses, and it’s likely that the monster recently moved into it. PCs can discover that the Queen is holding back if a player questions her intentions, prompting a DC 18 Insight check. If asked what she’s hiding, the Queen will say that she is filled with guilt, for she allowed her daughter to go into the woods alone, which is how she was kidnapped in the first place.The PCs are told of a magic wishing well in the courtyard should they need additional aid, which can provide either Knowledge, Power, or both if given valuable offerings. The offering’s monetary value isn’t important; rather, the well makes the judgment based on whether or not the one making the offer views their sacrifice as valuable in some manner. A DC 8 Performance or Persuasion check convinces the well that the offering is sincere. Asking for Knowledge grants important facts in the form of rhymes, such as announcing one’s presence as the means of gaining access to the tower, or that the monster is a “threat hidden in plain sight.” Asking for Power gives a character one of 4 magic items from a table: a beret that gives the wearer +1 to Armor Class and saving throws, am amulet that makes wielded weapons magical, a floral pin that grants advantage on initiative and rolls to detect traps, or clogs that let the user cast Haste on themselves. For this last item, it doesn’t say how many times it can be used, so presumably it’s an at-will effect.The journey to the Dread Tower is an uneventful trip, and it’s a 5 room, 3 story dungeon. The tower’s moat is guarded by a water weird who prefers to grapple and throw back uninvited visitors, and showing politeness causes the drawbridge to magically lower. If the PCs attained the magic floral pin and learned how to gain access to the tower from the wishing well, the pin will have a voice echo from the flower, repeating the well’s clue. Alternatively, the party can sneak across.The entry hall is home to two swarms of rats which can be detected ahead of time as though searching for a trap. The parlor is home to a valuable pitcher and goblet, along with a Mirror of Life Trapping which can be “deactivated” if insects, mice, and other small pests in the tower are used to fill it. The third floor landing is home to a suit of animated armor that will attack if the PCs try to open the bedchamber doors. Finally, the bedchamber is home to Princess Rusa disguised as a human, who says that the tower’s magic keeps her imprisoned unless she “crosses the threshold with a true hero.” The PC who gets the highest Performance/Persuasion result in regaling her with their heroic deeds is chosen by Rusa. Chosen to be “saved for last,” as hero flesh tastes the sweetest! She will cast Dominate Person spell on her “champion” to turn on their party members as she reveals her true form. The survivable version of this final encounter makes Rusa a Harpy with the Shapeshift ability.Thoughts: I really like this adventure. The wishing well’s advice and magic items are directly useful for the challenges ahead, the dungeon has a variety of encounters that can be solved in ways that reward clever thinking, and the tower’s non-rakshasa occupants are still decently challenging for a 1st-level party.Thoughts So Far: Everybody Dies as a Surprise is my favorite of the three adventures in this post, with Mushroom Soufflé rating the lowest. The former is a cliche we’re all more than familiar with, but it works for a light-hearted oneshot. The cleverness of the traps and puzzles help give it a fresh spin, while still being enmeshed in the classic folktale fantasy vibe.Join us next time as we trigger TPKs against an illithid dragon, fighting Demogorgon, and in a storm giant’s castle!</blockquote>

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