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686 The Axe of Dreams - Level-0 Shadowdark Gauntlet
🕑 Added 2023-07-30 20:53:01 +0000 UTC
Traveler! In The Axe of Dreams, a level-0 Shadowdark gauntlet, a large percentage of the population of Spearhome has experienced strange dreams where they wield a magical axe. With this arcane artifact, their dreams and aspirations come to fruition in the land of dreams. Those who experienced the most vivid oneiric visions also feel an unavoidable urge to visit a narrow cavern near town. A small expedition sets out to visit the place.
When the characters arrive, they find an obsidian gate that had always barred passage now open. It leads them to a bygone crypt where a mighty hero of the past was interred hundreds of years ago. The trespassing peasants must make use of their creativity and resourcefulness to overcome the deathly challenges in the dungeon. In the end, only one of them shall reach the legendary axe and become its new master. They shall soon find it doesn't come without cost.
This gauntlet adventure leads the lowly peasants into a dangerous crypt, pits them against undead forces from the past, and allows them to retrieve a mighty artifact that shall change their lives forever. They shall soon become the writers of history in the modern world.
This adventure features a new dungeon map crafted especially for this quest!
This adventure has been designed for Shadowdark RPG through their 3rd party license. The system is meant to be accessible to OSR players and modern players alike. Adapting the material to 5e or other systems should not be difficult.
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Comments
Tungil
Hey, I just ran this and have a bit of feedback. Overall me and my players liked this oneshot. Here are a few things I would change if I run this again: Limit the starting torches to 2 and let them find one more in room 6 or 7, so they only have 3 hours total to explore the dungeon. We rolled 4 and it felt a bit dragged at times, Shdaowdark adventures kinda need that permanent pressure to work great. Cap the max amount of player chars to 10 as you had in the original + a max. of 5 NPC villagers. Reduce the amount of "Spawn of the Axe", tavern scene from 5->3, shortens the fight and doesnt thin out as many chars right of the bat. Reduce the amount of "Spawn of the Axe" in room 3 from 5->3 , shortens the fight. Change the wording of "Vases" in room 4 to "Jugs" or something similar, my players realized that these had weird effecting liquids in it but didnt think they could drink because to quote them "they are vases, nobody drinks out of vases". Change the player map to NOT include the crossbows, can't reveal the room with the traps placed so obvious. Anyways, I can totally see myself running this one again, thanks for creating this :) !
