Sample file. Dungeon Crawl Classics #14 Dungeon Interludes. by Jason Little SIX ADVENTURES FOR CHARACTER LEVELS Table of Contents.

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4 Dungeon Crawl Classics #14 Dungeon Interludes by Jason Little SIX ADVENTURES FOR CHARACTER LEVELS 1-13 Credits Writer: Jason Little Front Cover Artist: Chuck Whelon Back Cover Artist: Brad McDevitt Interior Artists: Ian Armstrong, Stacy Drum, Jason Edwards, Tom Galambos, Friedrich Haas, James Holloway, Cliff Kurowski, Brad McDevitt, Jesse Mohn, Chris Watkins Cartographer: Jeremy Simmons Graphic Designer: Joseph Goodman Proofreader: Lisa Poisso Playtesters: Dale Bollinger, Toni Easter, Haden Huffaker, Stephanie Huffaker, Dave Husted, Craig Lloyd, Brian MacMillan, Jon McDunn, Erin McSpadden, Jeff McSpadden, Anthony Ruffus, John Weber, Melvyn Wise Sample file Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: The Eye of the Night Chapter 2: The Defiled Sanctuary Chapter 3: The Hunter of Worlds Chapter 4: The Dünerain Mines Chapter 5: The Sinking Spire Chapter 6: The War of the Summoner Appendix 1: New Items and Monsters New Magic Items Thornblood Vapor Demon Appendix 2: Player Handouts Maps If you like this adventure, be sure to look for the rest of the Dungeon Crawl Classics series at your local game store. Log on to for freebies, news, special offers, and more. 1

5 Dungeon Crawl Classics: Dungeon Interludes Introduction Getting the Players Involved Remember the golden days of role playing, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Well, those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dungeons, and no NPCs who aren t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know must be there somewhere. Dungeon Crawl Classics: Dungeon Interludes is a slightly different beast than other adventures in the series. Rather than presenting one epic module to test the mettle of your group, Interludes provides a series of stand-alone adventures that can be linked into an existing campaign or played on their own. These six adventures can easily be tied together using the over-arching storyline or taken as separate, bite-sized nuggets. The chapters in Interludes range from low-level scenarios perfect for starting adventurers to deadly scenarios that will test even the most seasoned veterans. Each individual chapter is designed around a compelling location and the dangers therein and can be played in one or two sessions. Dungeon Crawl Classics: Dungeon Interludes introduces new monsters, traps and magic items along the way and plenty of excitement to keep your gaming group engaged for some time. Note that the adventures in this module are not designed to be played consecutively. Although the level ranges match up (for example, the first adventure, Eye of the Night, is for levels 1-3 while the second adventure, The Defiled Sanctuary, is for levels 3-5), the scenarios don t always give PCs enough experience to advance directly to the next episode. The idea is that these adventures can be interspersed among other adventures in an ongoing campaign. At first, the players won t even realize they re connected. But as the plot slowly unfolds over the course of several scenarios, they ll see the bigger picture. This adds a thread of continuity to your campaign that can go on for many sessions. You can even use other Dungeon Crawl Classics modules as the filler between Interludes episodes. When there is fame and fortune to be had, some groups need little else to dive into the action. Depending on your group s play style and personalities, you may need to give them a bit of an extra push. Luckily, once the group has embarked on one of the adventures in this series, there is a built-in incentive to follow subsequent plot hooks an evil summoner may conquer the realms if the heroes sit back on their laurels! Since Interludes is split into several different chapters, each chapter will provide some hooks to get your players involved in that particular adventure. Each episode in Interludes includes lead-ins from previous episodes, as well as a number of stand-alone adventure hooks. This should be enough to get your players moving in the right direction. If they need additional help, consider using Knowledge (local) or Gather Information skill checks, or bardic knowledge checks. Ask the players to make a check when they encounter a potential hook in one episode, then reveal information that sends them toward the next adventure. Background Story Albrecht Skullshank, a human summoner of unspeakable evil, lies imprisoned in a sheath of crystal, deep within the bowels of a long-abandoned mine. Skullshank was defeated in battle nearly a century ago by a brave band of heroes and encased in the crystal for what they hoped would be eternity. As the years have worn on, memories of Skullshank s evil have faded in the minds of everyone involved in that epic battle except the summoner s faithful minions. Sample file Celestial events are taking shape, and the world is on the brink of a grand astral conjunction. The stars and planets will soon be in alignment to empower the most potent dark sorceries the world has seen in millennia. With this in mind, Skullshank s minions are feverishly scouring the land for the items needed to build his grandest invention the Oculum Infernae. Albrecht Skullshank was working on the Oculum Infernae when he was attacked. He saved what he could from his precious device, scattering the core components to various laboratories and holdings under his control. The final plans for completing the Oculum Infernae lie encased in the crystal with Skullshank. Once the items are assembled and Skullshank is freed from his prison, it will only be a matter of time before the Oculum Infernae is complete and an army of demonic warriors is summoned to lay siege to the realms. 2

6 The Oculum Infernae is an enormous telescope with magic lenses and cantilevers. When properly aligned and calibrated, the Oculum Infernae allows the user to view the heavens with perfect clarity. This allows the user to predict astral conjunctions and celestial events unerringly knowledge that Skullshank can use to summon an army with greater power than usual. With the precise timing and information gleaned from the Oculum Infernae, the summoning will become permanent. Skullshank s minions are many and their tasks numerous. Scores of followers search for the missing pieces to the Oculum Infernae while others toil refining the lenses and complex instruments used by the infernal device. Still more are working to extract Skullshank from his crystal prison and bring forth a new age of dominance and evil to the land. The epic magnitude of the undertaking provides a startling realization should Albrecht be freed and the Oculum Infernae completed, the entire realm will fall under the rule of his demonic armies! As the scenarios unfold, there are plot hooks, tidbits and clues that can reveal this plot line and help tie one adventure into the next. However, the adventures can also easily be played separately. The summoner and his lieutenants make excellent villains, several of which can resurface in different scenarios. If you wish to skip past any particular adventures, you can decide whether or not Skullshank s minions were successful in completing their goal. Since the entire series of adventures is linked to a grand finale pitting the party against Skullshank, there is an added element of continuity and impact to this final confrontation. Adventure Overview The six adventures in the Interludes series are as follows: Sample file The Eye of the Night is for levels 1-3. It pits the characters against a fiendish wererat whose escapades have brushed up against those of Skullshanks minions. The Defiled Sanctuary is for levels 3-5. It sends the characters into the defiled burial sanctuary of a noble paladin, where they defeat one of Skullshank s undead lieutenants. The Hunter of Worlds is for levels 5-7. The characters become aware that they are making powerful enemies when a drow assassin poisons their rations. The drow escapes into a lair that turns out to be the domain of a xill trophy hunter, which the PCs must defeat in order to escape alive. The Dünerain Mines is for levels 7-9. After finding a map to the mines on the body of their would-be assassin in the previous episode, the characters become aware of a connection between these seemingly distinct adventures. The characters explore the mines and find plans for the Oculum Infernae left in the office of the ogre mage foreman. The Sinking Spire is for levels Armed with a map found in the Dünerain Mines, the PCs set off for Skullshank s former wizard s tower, now falling into ruin amidst a deep jungle. They arrive at the wizard s tower only moments after a pair of tieflings sent to recover magical components for Skullshank himself. The War of the Summoner is for levels Having learned of Skullshank s master plans, the PCs move to confront him. They must battle through alien wizardry in a strange elemental tower before finally confronting him and his Oculum Infernae. 3