A Cursed Convocation | Free Short Adventure for D&D 5e and Pathfinder

By the way, if you’re a busy GM without enough to time to prep like you know you should, Lairs & Legends 2 can help. Grab an adventure, read it in about 15 minutes, and you’re ready to run your game! With over 700 pages of 5e resources, there’s no reason to feel stressed out and overwhelmed before your next D&D game.

A Cursed Convocation - D&D 5e

Below are the details you need to run this adventure. However, the game master is encouraged to customize it slightly for their group and ongoing campaign. Consider questions such as the following:

· Where will this adventure take place in your world?

· Should you change any of the location names to make them better fit your campaign setting?

· Should you increase or decrease the loot, including adding or removing magic items?

· Should you adjust any of the encounters to better fit the power level of your players and their characters?

Game Master Notes

Level. This adventure is designed for a group of four to six level-two characters.

Creatures. This adventure features the following creatures: mastiff, varglith drone*

*These creatures can be found in Stalkers of Life and Servants of War in this issue of Lair Magazine.

Resting. It’s expected that the party will not need to take any long rests in this adventure, though they may need a short rest if the characters encounter bad luck.

Loot. This adventure contains the following treasure: boots of elvenkind, +1 leather armor, 25 gp.

C1. A Cry in the Fog

A teal haze wafts about this large farmstead, laced with a sweet scent: a sickening kind of smell that recalls rot. Silhouettes of structures are visible through the veil: a stately farmhouse, a pig pen attached to the home, a small barn, a wheat field to the north, and a squat stone well in the center of the yard. Suddenly, a high, pealing whine fills the air. A figure on the ground, orange fur muted by the mist and dark, weakly moves its legs against the dirt. This hunting dog with a bushy tail and glazed eyes bears no obvious wounds, but it seems to be in its death throes.

Creatures. There is one mastiff lying on the ground as the characters approach the farmhouse.

Roleplaying Notes.

· The mastiff is still alive, though on the brink of death.

· If a character heals the dog, it springs up and kisses its healer. It will keep close to the characters if they enter the farmhouse or leave the farm. However, if the characters approach the well, the barn, or the wheat field, the dog will sprint for the road—leaving the encounter.

Barn. If a character succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check or Intelligence (Investigation) check, they will notice that the ransacked food stores have not been taken or eaten, just rifled through or destroyed.

Pigpen. If a character succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Animal Handling, Medicine, or Nature) check while examining the pigs in the pigpen, they will discern the pigs show no sign of being stabbed, bitten, or clawed. They are dead but without any visible injuries.

Well. If a character succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check, a character will find three-toed tracks leading toward the well.

Wheat Field. If a character succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Nature) check, a character can see the wheat fields are unspoiled and ready for harvest.

Strange Redolence. The teal mist spread across the farm smells sweet and rotting at the same time. Characters that succeed on a DC 13 Intelligence (Arcana or Nature) check will recognize it as a sign that vargliths have recently been feeding. It is the byproduct vapor sent into the air after vargliths feed on creatures’ quintessence (life force). The mist “marks” any creature that inhales it for more than 1 minute. Vargliths can deal an extra 1d4 damage against “marked” targets and have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to find them. This effect lasts 1 hour. The characters may also submerge themselves in water to end the effect.

C2. An Empty Nest

The mist hangs thick within the home, billowing up to the rafters. The silhouettes of two crumpled mounds on the floor appear to be a pair of still bodies. They lie over a ritual circle painted in green, the elegant image marred by the splatter of their blood. The furniture lies toppled or smashed: bedding shredded, and drawers opened and ransacked.

Creatures. Six varglith drones rest in the rafters of the farmhouse, glutted on the quintessence of the two elves below. The drones will become alert as the characters enter and attempt to stay hidden within the rafters (DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice).

Encounter Notes.

· Any character that succeeds on a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check will hear shuffling overhead and spot the varglith drones staring at them with wide, alien eyes, their thin nostrils flared.

· The varglith drones will fight to the death as they are motivated to feed on more quintessence for the good of the colony hidden in the underground network accessed by the farm’s well.

Bodies. Two elves lie dead in the middle of the farmhouse.

Helping Hands. Though marred by the two elves’ blood and fallen bodies, the characters can learn more about the summoning circle by making an Intelligence (Arcana) check:

DC 10. A character can deduce that the painted circle’s purpose was for summoning and that it is painted in an elvish style.
DC 13. A character can read the ritual symbols and understand their intent is to summon creatures from the fey realm.
DC 15. A character can discern that the ritual did not result in a fey summoning but something aberrant instead.

Precious Things. When characters search the room, they will notice nothing of value is missing. The characters can learn the following by making a Wisdom (Perception) check:

DC 12. Characters will find some gold (about 25 gp) stowed under the disheveled beds, along with one pair of boots of elvenkind. In the ransacked drawers, characters can find keepsakes and the farmer’s journal.
DC 13. Characters will notice traces of light, three-toed footprints over the floorboards and along the walls.
DC 10. The dead elvish scout wears +1 leather armor that the characters can take if they are comfortable looting the body.

The Farmer’s Journal. By reading the journal, characters can learn the purpose of the summoning circle: to summon a legion of sprites to the farm to help the farmer, an elvish commoner, with her harvest. She does this almost every year with the help of her friend Jorildyn, an elvish scout. The last entry in the journal is dated yesterday, and it details her anticipation of Jorildyn’s upcoming visit.

Conclusion

The characters can further investigate the bodies to determine how the two elves and pigs died. By investigating the summoning circle, the characters may discern that the elves summoned the varglith here by accident. By noting the footprints around the well, the characters can guess the vargliths may be nesting underground. This can lead to another adventure to investigate the varglith nest, which now extends below the farm.

A Cursed Convocation - Pathfinder 2e

Below are the details you need to run this adventure. However, the game master is encouraged to customize it slightly for their group and ongoing campaign. Consider questions such as the following:

· Where will this adventure take place in your world?

· Should you change any of the location names to make them better fit your campaign setting?

· Should you increase or decrease the loot, including adding or removing magic items?

· Should you adjust any of the encounters to better fit the power level of your players and their characters?

Game Master Notes

Level. This adventure is designed for a group of four level-two characters.

Creatures. This adventure features the following creatures: guard dog, varglith drone*

*These creatures can be found in Stalkers of Life and Servants of War in this issue of Lair Magazine.

Adventure Difficulty. The party can expect to encounter one trivial encounter and one severe encounter in this adventure.

Loot. This adventure contains the following treasure: concealed sheath, +1 armor potency rune, 25 gp.

C1. A Cry in the Fog Trivial 2

Creatures. There is one guard dog lying on the ground as the characters approach the farmhouse.

Roleplaying Notes.

· The dog is still alive, though on the brink of death.

Barn. If a character succeeds on a DC 16 Perception check, they will notice that the ransacked food stores have not been taken or eaten, just rifled through or destroyed.

Pigpen. If a character succeeds on a DC 16 Nature check while examining the pigs in the pigpen, they will discern the pigs show no sign of being stabbed, bitten, or clawed. They are dead but without any visible injuries.

Well. If a character succeeds on a DC 10 Survival check, a character will find three-toed tracks leading toward the well.

Wheat Field. If a character succeeds on a DC 15 Nature check, a character can see the wheat fields are unspoiled and ready for harvest.

Strange Redolence. The teal mist spread across the farm smells sweet and rotting at the same time. Characters that succeed on a DC 16 Nature check will recognize it as a sign that vargliths have recently been feeding. It is the byproduct vapor sent into the air after vargliths feed on creatures’ quintessence (life force). The mist “marks” any creature that inhales it for more than 1 minute. Vargliths can deal an extra 1d4 damage against “marked” targets and have a +2 circumstance bonus on Perception checks to find them. This effect lasts 1 hour. The characters may also submerge themselves in water to end the effect.

C2. An Empty Nest Severe 2

Creatures. Eight varglith drones rest in the rafters of the farmhouse, glutted on the quintessence of the two elves below. The drones will become alert as the characters enter and attempt to stay hidden within the rafters (DC 15 Perception check to notice).

Encounter Notes.

· Any character that succeeds on a DC 10 Perception check will hear shuffling overhead and spot the varglith drones staring at them with wide, alien eyes, their thin nostrils flared.

· The varglith drones will fight to the death as they are motivated to feed on more quintessence for the good of the colony hidden in the underground network accessed by the farm’s well.

Bodies. Two elves lie dead in the middle of the farmhouse.

Helping Hands. Though marred by the two elves’ blood and fallen bodies, the characters can learn more about the summoning circle by making an Arcana check:

DC 15. A character can deduce that the painted circle’s purpose was for summoning and that it is painted in an elvish style.
DC 20. A character can read the ritual symbols and understand their intent is to summon creatures from the fey realm.
DC 25. A character can discern that the ritual did not result in a fey summoning but something aberrant instead.

Precious Things. When characters search the room, they will notice nothing of value is missing. The characters can learn the following by making a Perception check:

DC 15. Characters will find some gold (about 25 gp) stowed under the disheveled beds, along with one pair of concealed sheath. In the ransacked drawers, characters can find keepsakes and the farmer’s journal.
DC 20. Characters will notice traces of light, three-toed footprints over the floorboards and along the walls.
DC 25. The armor the dead scout is wearing is destroyed, but there is a +1 armor potency rune that can be salvaged. Removing the rune without destroying it requires a DC 20 Crafting (expert) check, though characters needn’t do so immediately if they take the destroyed armor with them.