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Dungeon Crawl Classics #14Dungeon Interludes

by Jason LittleSIX 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

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Chapter 1: The Eye of the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Chapter 2: The Defiled Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Chapter 3: The Hunter of Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Chapter 4: The Dünerain Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Chapter 5: The Sinking Spire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Chapter 6: The War of the Summoner . . . . . . . . . . .60

Appendix 1: New Items and Monsters . . . . . . . . . . .73

New Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Thornblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Vapor Demon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Appendix 2: Player Handouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

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 www.goodman-games.com for freebies,

news, special offers, and more.

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Dungeon Crawl Classics:Dungeon Interludes

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Introduction

Remember the golden days of role playing, whenadventures were underground, NPCs were there to bekilled, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragonon the 20th level? Well, those days are back. DungeonCrawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dun-geons, 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 thesecret doors you know must be there somewhere.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Dungeon Interludes is aslightly different beast than other adventures in theseries. Rather than presenting one epic module to testthe mettle of your group, Interludes provides a series ofstand-alone adventures that can be linked into an exist-ing campaign or played on their own. These six adven-tures can easily be tied together using the over-archingstoryline or taken as separate, bite-sized nuggets.

The chapters in Interludes range from low-level scenar-ios perfect for starting adventurers to deadly scenariosthat will test even the most seasoned veterans. Eachindividual chapter is designed around a compellinglocation and the dangers therein and can be played inone or two sessions. Dungeon Crawl Classics:Dungeon Interludes introduces new monsters, trapsand magic items along the way – and plenty of excite-ment to keep your gaming group engaged for sometime.

Note that the adventures in this module are notdesigned to be played consecutively. Although the levelranges match up (for example, the first adventure, “Eyeof the Night,” is for levels 1-3 while the second adven-ture, “The Defiled Sanctuary,” is for levels 3-5), the sce-narios don’t always give PCs enough experience toadvance directly to the next episode. The idea is thatthese adventures can be interspersed among otheradventures in an ongoing campaign. At first, the playerswon’t even realize they’re connected. But as the plotslowly unfolds over the course of several scenarios,they’ll see the bigger picture. This adds a thread of con-tinuity to your campaign that can go on for many ses-sions. You can even use other Dungeon Crawl Classicsmodules as the “filler” between Interludes episodes.

Getting the Players Involved

When there is fame and fortune to be had, some groupsneed little else to dive into the action. Depending onyour group’s play style and personalities, you may needto give them a bit of an extra push. Luckily, once thegroup has embarked on one of the adventures in thisseries, there is a built-in incentive to follow subsequentplot hooks – an evil summoner may conquer the realmsif the heroes sit back on their laurels! Since Interludes issplit into several different chapters, each chapter willprovide some hooks to get your players involved in thatparticular adventure.

Each episode in Interludes includes lead-ins from previ-ous episodes, as well as a number of stand-aloneadventure hooks. This should be enough to get yourplayers moving in the right direction. If they need addi-tional help, consider using Knowledge (local) or GatherInformation skill checks, or bardic knowledge checks.Ask the players to make a check when they encountera potential hook in one episode, then “reveal” informa-tion that sends them toward the next adventure.

Background Story

Albrecht Skullshank, a human summoner of unspeak-able evil, lies imprisoned in a sheath of crystal, deepwithin the bowels of a long-abandoned mine.Skullshank was defeated in battle nearly a century agoby a brave band of heroes and encased in the crystalfor what they hoped would be eternity. As the yearshave worn on, memories of Skullshank’s evil havefaded in the minds of everyone involved in that epic bat-tle – except the summoner’s faithful minions.

Celestial events are taking shape, and the world is onthe brink of a grand astral conjunction. The stars andplanets will soon be in alignment to empower the mostpotent dark sorceries the world has seen in millennia.With this in mind, Skullshank’s minions are feverishlyscouring the land for the items needed to build hisgrandest invention – the Oculum Infernae.

Albrecht Skullshank was working on the OculumInfernae when he was attacked. He saved what hecould from his precious device, scattering the core com-ponents to various laboratories and holdings under hiscontrol. The final plans for completing the OculumInfernae lie encased in the crystal with Skullshank.Once the items are assembled and Skullshank is freedfrom his prison, it will only be a matter of time before theOculum Infernae is complete and an army of demonicwarriors is summoned to lay siege to the realms.

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The Oculum Infernae is an enormous telescope withmagic lenses and cantilevers. When properly alignedand calibrated, the Oculum Infernae allows the user toview the heavens with perfect clarity. This allows theuser to predict astral conjunctions and celestial eventsunerringly – knowledge that Skullshank can use to sum-mon an army with greater power than usual. With theprecise timing and information gleaned from theOculum Infernae, the summoning will become perma-nent.

Skullshank’s minions are many and their tasks numer-ous. Scores of followers search for the missing piecesto the Oculum Infernae while others toil refining thelenses and complex instruments used by the infernaldevice. Still more are working to extract Skullshankfrom his crystal prison and bring forth a new age ofdominance and evil to the land. The epic magnitude ofthe undertaking provides a startling realization – shouldAlbrecht be freed and the Oculum Infernae completed,the entire realm will fall under the rule of his demonicarmies!

As the scenarios unfold, there are plot hooks, tidbitsand clues that can reveal this plot line and help tie oneadventure into the next. However, the adventures canalso easily be played separately. The summoner andhis lieutenants make excellent villains, several of whichcan resurface in different scenarios.

If you wish to skip past any particular adventures, youcan decide whether or not Skullshank’s minions weresuccessful in completing their goal. Since the entireseries of adventures is linked to a grand finale pittingthe party against Skullshank, there is an added elementof continuity and impact to this final confrontation.

Adventure Overview

The six adventures in the Interludes series are as fol-lows:

• “The Eye of the Night” is for levels 1-3. It pits thecharacters against a fiendish wererat whoseescapades have brushed up against those ofSkullshanks’ minions.

• “The Defiled Sanctuary” is for levels 3-5. It sendsthe characters into the defiled burial sanctuary of anoble paladin, where they defeat one ofSkullshank’s undead lieutenants.

• “The Hunter of Worlds” is for levels 5-7. The char-acters become aware that they are making power-ful enemies when a drow assassin poisons theirrations. The drow escapes into a lair that turns outto be the domain of a xill trophy hunter, which thePCs must defeat in order to escape alive.

• “The Dünerain Mines” is for levels 7-9. After findinga map to the mines on the body of their would-beassassin in the previous episode, the charactersbecome aware of a connection between theseseemingly distinct adventures. The charactersexplore the mines and find plans for the OculumInfernae left in the office of the ogre mage foreman.

• “The Sinking Spire” is for levels 9-11. Armed with amap found in the Dünerain Mines, the PCs set offfor Skullshank’s former wizard’s tower, now fallinginto ruin amidst a deep jungle. They arrive at thewizard’s tower only moments after a pair of tieflingssent to recover magical components for Skullshankhimself.

• “The War of the Summoner” is for levels 11-13.Having learned of Skullshank’s master plans, thePCs move to confront him. They must battlethrough alien wizardry in a strange elemental towerbefore finally confronting him and his OculumInfernae.

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