The Mezzos Fragment - a Horror Adventure (5e)
No¸ no¸ no. This can't be true¸" his hands are shaking. "No¸ please. Jiro?" The hallway around them weeps a sour liquid¸ like the belly of some enormous creature. Olan's lantern sputters and flickers in the dark¸ but he can see Jiro clearly enough - even if he can't believe what he's seeing. Jiro's leather gloves are split¸ with sharp barbs of bone piercing from his unbelievably long fingers. "Jiro!" he screams again. Jiro doesn't look at him¸ but his back rises and falls in deep breaths. His armor is dripping blood down his lower back and onto the stone floor. His hair lies in clumps on the ground¸ sloughed off with wet strips of his skin. The voice¸ that constant voice¸ that's been whispering into Olan's mind finally falls quiet as Jiro finally turns toward his partner. Their years of adventuring¸ the long nights holding one another in the cold¸ the endless wounds they had both sustained¸ the horrors they had faced - a great many things raced through Olan's mind as Jiro's familiar green eye¸ now the size of a saucer¸ bloody and morphed to the middle of his gaunt face¸ stared back at him - unblinking. When the thing that used to be Jiro began clawing through his mind¸ Olan tried to scream but couldn't make the sounds. Features NOTE: DO NOT READ THE FULL SIZED PREVIEW IF YOU'D LIKE TO AVOID SPOILERS! Lovecraftian Horror: Just in time for Halloween¸ this 10 page adventure is packed with the spookiest¸ most Lovecraftian stuff I could think of for even stalwart adventurers to face: Elder Evils. Beings beyond the rules of the Material Plane - near limitless and alien in every way. This adventure introduces three new aspects of Elder Evils for your party to interact with. Heavy nods to some of your favorite D&D baddies: Dendar the Night Serpent¸ Vecna¸ Tharizdun¸ and more. Forgotten Realms or Homebrew Enabled: I leaned into some lore from the Forgotten Realms for location and possible factions - but kept the vast majority of the adventure setting agnostic! Take your players into the beset logging hamlet of Gold Falls as part of your ongoing campaign or a quick one-shot. Concise and Open: This adventure was written for 3-6 hours of play ¸ with plenty of room for roleplay and important PC desisions. However¸ this ten-page adventure can easily be tooled to span three or more sessions if the focus shifts on uncovering the mystery presented in this adventure. Brutal or Cake-Walk¸ You Decide: Combat is a centerpiece to Dungeons and Dragons¸ but many adventures pit the PCs against overwhelmingly powerful foes or cardboard cutouts of enemies that fall over far too easily. This adventure has been focused on having a modular cast of Enemies¸ NPCs¸ and non-combat encounters. One of a Kind Magic Item and Loot Galore: When facing off against otherworldly powers that corrupt and destroy - you probably deserve to find amazing things. Memorable treasture¸ 2 unique magic items¸ and 2 pre-established magic items for your party to track down. I can promise¸ whoever gets their hands on the Magical Greatsword "The Bloody Cross" or the "Unseen Stone" will never¸ ever¸ forget having it... even if they desperately wish they could. Dyson Logos Map: Thanks to his wonderful Patrons¸ I finally got a chance to repurpose a beautiful Dyson Logos map for this adventure! So clean¸ so nice.