The Crypt of Rova

A Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Adventure Module

By
Ryan “Rybonator” Brainard
This module was designed for characters level 11 - 16 in parties of 3+.
Legend -
● Text in normal font is meant for the DM
● Text in italics is descriptive text for the players/party
● Bolded texts indicate checks or references to rooms within the module
Maps, rooms, items and monster references included in the appendix of the module.

The Crypt of Rova

In the middle of a large forest, a white casket made of stone rests against the bottom of a small
rocky cliffside. The trees surrounding the casket are dead and wilted for 100 yards in any
direction. Near the stone casket grows a small meadow of black roses.​ ​You recall the time of
day and notice that the sun should be high in the sky, but between the branches of the dead
​ DC 18 Perception Check​ is
and wilted trees, the light is obstructed by dark storm clouds. A
required to notice that there are decomposed bodies in the dirt beneath the roses.

The casket appears to be embedded into the rocky cliffside.​ ​A COMBINED DC 48 STR Check
must be made in order to lift the stone lid from the casket. When opened, the casket is empty,
save a stone slab backing with an indentation in the shape of a humanoid right hand with a
small hole in the center of the indentation.

A​ DC 20 Investigation Check​ reveals a slight discoloration in the hole. The rock appears to be
stained a slightly dark crimson brown color.

To open the entrance to the crypt, someone must cover their right hand in blood and place their
palm in the indentation. The hole then sucks the blood off of their hand. If they do not already
have blood on their right hand and place it upon the indentation, then they must make a ​DC 20
CON Save​.​ ​On a failed save, they take 40 points of necrotic damage and have disadvantage on
all CON saves for 24 hours. On a success, they take half of the necrotic damage.

The rock then cracks along its surface, as a deep quake can be felt around the hill. The quake
coincides with a dark and deep voice laughing, as the slab breaks and falls down the entrance
of the tomb. Each exhale of the deep laughter brings forth a gust of wind from the mouth of the
tomb. Stagnant air fills your lungs as you inhale the breath of the crypt.

Down the entrance of the crypt is a stairway made of stone. The walls of the tomb appear to be
naturally occurring and not at all tampered with by man. You cannot see the bottom of the steps,
as darkness fills the tomb.

There are 712 steps in total before reaching the bottom. ​DC 10 INT Check.

At the bottom of the steps is an archway carved into the rock. On the archway are two stone
skulls, one in each of the corners with writing written in Elvish.

1
“Here lies the crypt of Demi’Rova and the abominations he hath created.”

The air feels cold and stale down in the depths of the crypt. Walking past the archway and into
the hall, the walls turn from the natural cave-like formation you saw in the stairway, into ancient
but well made stone structures. The stone bricks and carvings on the way are covered in dust
and cobwebs.​ ​A DC 15 History Check​ will inform the party that the stone walls and pillars are
of Elvish make.

1. The Archway​ - ​The crypt is incredibly dark. Only those with incredible darkvision or a
lightsource could hope to see in this dark place. There are three hallways that lead away
from the entrance behind the Archway. Facing from the Archway, the hallway on the
player’s right (​ this leads to ​Room 3​) ​has a small set of stairs at its entrance that go 5 feet
up. The hallway straight ahead has a wooden barricade that would block most forward
motion. The path to the player’s left has two metal sconces where torches would have
sat, but they are mangled and can no longer hold a torch. Closer examination reveals
that there are deep gouges in the rock near them.
A​ DC 22 Perception Check​ has the player hear what sounds like extremely
labored breathing coming from multiple people down this hallway. Should your players
advance down this hallway, read about​ Room 2​ before allowing them to continue. Any
hallways not specifically mentioned throughout the rest of the module are made of stone
bricks in varying states of decay covered in cobwebs and dust. Every now and again
players may come across a rat that will scurry away into a hole upon seeing the party.
2. The Ripening Room ​- If the players are carrying a light source as they begin to walk
into this room, then an event happens when they are halfway down the hallway -
A sudden sound of shuffling feet and hideous moans fills the air. The silence of
the crypt is disturbed by the sound of rattling cages and gasps of air with skin pressing
against skin. The noise becomes gradually louder before a great loud sound of metal on
metal thumps against one another, and the moans and breathing stop. A deep hum
resounds through the room before the crashing sound of metal fills your ears once
again. And then the sound of large footsteps begins to approach. ​(If the players do not
snuff out the light source quickly, a deep mechanical noise will sound and they will begin
to hear the charging footsteps as the Cadaver Collector in the next room will notice their
light and charge them, getting a surprise round on any who cannot see past 60 feet. A
DC 18 Stealth Check ​will allow the players to run back into the main hall and hide from
the Cadaver Collector.)
The room contains 8 large cages locked and filled with zombies and skeletons.
The majority of the entities are tall and Elvish in appearance, though dead, but a few of
them are much smaller… At the end of the room is large metallic construct with spears
and blades sticking out of it that sits dormant.​ (If anyone comes within 60 feet of the
Cadaver Collector, have them make a​ DC 18 Stealth Check​, or the construct animates
and spots them, initiating combat.)
Combat​ ​Note ​- If the Cadaver Collector is ever dropped to half health or below
and the fight is still in The Ripening Room, then the Cadaver Collector moves to one of

2
 the cages on its turn and uses its action to rip a metal cage open, releasing 3d4 Zombies
and 1d4 skeletons that join it in battle against the players. The Cadaver Collector will
continue to break open cages until it is defeated.
(If the group either successfully sneaks around the construct or slays it in battle,
they can examine the room. The Cadaver Collector holds a key with the inscription
‘Crypt Key’ on its body that can be used to open the cages within the room. The key can
only be found with the construct slain.) The cages are filled with Zombies and Skeletons,
but they seem to stray away from the party and push themselves to the back of the
cages. ​A DC 15 Perception Check​ allows the players to notice the skeletons in the
cages looking back and forth between the players and the construct. ​A DC 16
Investigation Check​ allows the players to notice that the male zombies all appear to
have the same hair and facial features (black hair), the females share a similar likeness
with each other as well (blonde), as do the smaller female childlike undead.
A DC 17​ ​Lockpicking​ ​Check​ can open the cages, but as soon as the players
do, the undead inside immediately becomes hostile and attacks the party. If this
happens and the construct is still dormant, it is now awake.
3. Room of Darkness​ - ​As you turn the corner a shroud of darkness fills the room before
you. Those with darkvision cannot see through this darkness, and your light source
cannot seem to penetrate the darkness either.
The room is covered in a magical darkness. Light of magical and non-magical
origins cannot illuminate this room. A use of ​Dispel Magic cast at 6th​ ​level​ ​or greater
can dispel the darkness.
As the players walk into the room, they hear a whispery voice, as if carried by
wind within the tomb say the following: “​I cannot see you, and you cannot see me. Act as
my eyes to set yourself free.” T ​ he players must solve a riddle. They can fumble around
in the darkness, and they will find a dead end at the other side. They will also find three
pedestals with three items on them. They cannot see, but must say aloud what they think
the three items are. The riddle is an in person (out of character) riddle, rather than just
an in game one. Fill a bag that cannot be seen through with 3 objects that they must
guess by simply feeling into the bag. Fill it with 3 things of easy, medium and hard
difficulty to guess by simply feeling it with your hand. (For example, easy being a d20,
and hard being a miniature figure that they have to tell you what it is.) Each time they
guess out loud what they think the item is, they hear a single clicking sound. If they
guess correctly, then the sound a moving stone can be heard from the closed off wall. If
they make 10 incorrect guesses out loud, then slots open from the walls, and the room
fills with gas as if from the spell Cloudkill. This gas lasts for 24 hours within the room and
cannot be dispelled, but it can be forced out of the room with magical wind.
Upon making all 3 guesses correctly, the 3rd and final stone slab sound can be
heard, and the darkness in the room is dispelled, revealing a now open pathway into the
next hallway.
4. Wooden Barricade​ - ​This hallway has a barricade of wooden planks and spikes aimed
in both directions of the hall. It looks like it was designed both to keep intruders out...and

3
 to keep something else in. It doesn’t look like there is a way to move forward through this
without breaking the barricade down.
The barricade can be pulled apart with ​a DC 23 STR Check​ by an individual.
There isn’t enough space for 2 people to get in a try at a given time. The barricade can
be broken down with an axe or metallic bludgeoning weapon. The barricade also can be
destroyed with fire. The barricade has 30 HP. Doing so will cause a significant amount of
noise. If the players choose to break the barricade instead of dismantle it, upon the first
attack to the barricade, the players will hear a loud metallic humm and large footsteps
approaching them. (See ​Room 2​ for details on the Cadaver Collector construct.) The
construct will reach the barricade in 5 rounds and be hostile to the party. Once the
barricade is dealt with, the party can move freely back and forth down the hallway. If the
construct is awakened, however, it will continue chasing them into ​Room 5​. (​Room 5 ​will
function the same as normal, but the players will have an extremely brief time to make a
decision on what to do before the construct arrives and attacks. The construct cannot
chase them across the gap chasm in ​Room 5​.)
5. Chasm Leap​ - Depending on which hallway the party came down, determines their
elevation for their starting position, as detailed in the map. ​The party comes across a
large and deep chasm into a pit below. The pit is a straight 60ft shoot downward. ​If the
party can see that far, they can see rubble from what looks like used to be stairs and
walkways that connected the rooms in this area. ​You see 3 other pathways extending
out from you at varying elevations, all about 15 feet away from the edge of your
entryway.
The players must find a way across the chasm to the other sides. These are
considered long jumps, and a player must have a STR Score of 15 in order to make this
leap. If they do not, they can roll either Athletics or Acrobatics and add a +1 to their STR
for every 4 points that they earn on the roll. (For example if someone rolls a 12 and has
a +5 Athletics score, bringing the total to 17, they can add +4 to their STR score, for
purposes of making the leap.) The elevations of the different hallways adds an additional
score of the difference in elevation to the total number of feet needed to travel. (For
example, jumping from a hall with 0ft elevation to a 5ft elevated hall, makes the score
needed a 20 instead of 15.)
It should be noted that if the players take the pathway that leads them to ​Room 3
from the chasm, then they come across and blank stone wall and cannot enter the room
from this side.
6. Gallery​ - ​There is no door closing off this room but instead an open hallway with metal
torch sconces that have been mangled and destroyed. Upon entering the gallery, you
can see paintings and frames covered in dust. Some of these paintings have scratch
marks along their surfaces, destroying the art and making it unrecognizable. Pedestals
and soft padded chairs in broken decay fill the room along with old broken vases and
decorations of beautiful design scattered along the floor. There are 2 pictures in this
room that are in pristine condition hanging on the walls on opposite sides of the room.
The picture on the end to the left of the Gallery entrance is quite large. It contains
a painting of what appears to be an Elvish family. There is a man, a woman and a little

4
 girl posing for the painting. The man is dressed in all black with jet black hair and facial
features that indicate a poor upbringing. The woman and child are both dressed in
highborn dresses with shades of yellow and green, both with bright blonde hair.
The picture on the end to the right of the Gallery is much smaller than the one on
the opposite end. The picture contains a drawing of the Elvish woman from the larger
picture, only she appears to be much younger and pregnant. She is sitting under an
apple tree, reading a book.
7. Mirrored Room​ - There are two entrances to these rooms, the bone room, and the
normal room. Each room has identical furniture. ​The room is decorated quite lavishly
with padded dining chairs surrounding a dining table that could seat nearly 20 people at
a time. There are rusted silver trays and goblets that have decayed over a millennia that
are now home to all manner of spiders and insects of deep places. There are coat racks
and dressers that are filled with dusty hole-filled clothes that smell of mothballs. A hearth
with no logs is on the middle edge of the room, centered to keep the diners of this place
warm and toasty once upon a time. Across the middle of the room is a glass window.
This window peers into a room on the other side that is nearly identical to the room you
are in now. There are two doors on either side of the window and they appear to lead
into that other room.
The rooms are identical, save for 2 differences. In the bone room, there is a large
pile of bones and skulls in the corner of the room. A​ DC 20 Perception Check​ shows
that the fireplace has a dangling chain in front of it in the bone room. Pulling on that
chain fills the bone room with a poisonous gas as if the spell Cloudkill was cast upon the
room. Dispel Magic does not work on this gas, as it is coming out of the fireplace and
non-magical. The gas will spew from the fireplace and last in the room for 1 hour. The
doors the exit the bone room will click and lock, except for the two doors that lead into
the normal room.
If the players are ever in the normal side of the room, the bones in the corner of
the bone room will begin to form into skeletons. These skeletons will walk over to the
coat racks in the bone room and grab attire that makes them appear to be mimicking the
party. There are a number of skeletons equal to the number of humanoids in the party.
The skeletons will then begin to perfectly mirror the actions of the party. (This should
come off as playful and cute if you can make it that way.)
If the party attempts to walk through one of the two doors into the opposite room,
the skeletons walk through the opposite door and now mirror them in the normal room. If
the party ever pulls the chain in the bone room while the skeletons are in the normal
room, the skeleton’s eyes will glow a deep green and they suddenly will become hostile.
The skeletons will then do their best to bar the doors preventing the party’s escape from
the poison. For purposes of escaping the bone room, here are some DC’s that you may
come across.
Glass Window: 5AC, 15HP
Barred Door: 10AC, 30HP, or a DC 21 STR Check to push open
The fireplace has an opening of 3ft by 3ft

5
 The skeletons will fight to the death and pursue the party if they ever become
hostile. If the party instead exits the room without ever pulling the lever, the skeletons will
return the coats and clothes, and then return to the pile of bones.
8. Alchemist Closet -​ ​This closet has a sulfurous scent coming from behind the door. It is
both acrid and pungent enough to cause even the most un-bathed adventurer to cover
their nose. The handle of this rotting oaken door is copper and free of cobwebs and dust.
If the party chooses to open the door, they will be greeted with a horrible stench,
which causes everyone to roll ​A DC 10​ ​CON Check​, or else they will vomit on the floor.
The closet has a number of beakers and vials filled with expired black liquids and jars of
long dead tiny creatures who have disintegrated and come apart in an unknown liquid. ​A
DC 18 Investigation Check​ will reveal 2 minor health potions in good condition sitting
behind a cauldron of an unknown brew.
9. Beholder’s Lair​ - ​You come across a wooden corner piece of a wall,​ ​a fork in your path
appears to be leading you diagonally to either the left or the right. The now interior wall is
entirely made of oak and not nearly in such a state of decay as the rest of this place. T ​ he
party will travel along this diagonal path until it reaches the entrance to the lair. When it
does you can read the following if they peer in far enough to see. ​The oaken walls that
you have been passing near appear to have been the back ends to book shelves. Great
bookshelves that span far up enough for darkness to overtake them, and make you
unable to find the ceiling.
A DC 20 Group Stealth Check (the majority of the group must score this
value or higher to succeed)​ will allow the players to enter the library undetected, where
they will find Kor’gak the Beholder reading several books while floating 30 feet up in the
air from the vast library. ​A DC 22 Perception Check​ would reveal deep and heavy
breathing from the beholder before entering the room.
Kor’gak is not immediately hostile unless the group casts a spell that can be
viewed in any light as hostile to him. He will however not let the party leave without
escorting them back to the Ripening Room to put them in the cages. Kor’gak has a deep
raspy voice and a calm ‘matter-of-fact’ demeanor. He should be played as someone who
is angry to have their reading interrupted. Through some interrogation and or a ​DC 25
Persuasion Check​, Kor’gak will reveal that he is here to research ways to bring the
dead back to life with their souls intact, particularly for someone who has been dead for
an extremely long period of time for his master, Demi’Rova. He will not reveal anything
else about the dungeon, nor about the life of Demi’Rova.
If the party fights and defeats Kor’gak, he will drop an ​All-Or-Nothing Coin​. (The
All-Or-Nothing Coin can be found in the Appendix.) If the party should cast a fire spell in
the room, the dust will ignite and cause the books and bookshelves to burn and catch
fire extremely quickly. The party must then run and escape the room before the
collapsing library collapses in on them. They will then make ​2 DC 14​ ​DEX Saves​ at
some point while attempting to escape from the lair and out into the long hallway. The
saves are for falling flaming debris. They will take 1d6 bludgeoning damage and 1d6 fire
damage on a failed save. If the room catches fire and collapses, the party is unable to
access the secret pathway from this side of ​Room 11​.

6
10. Pit Trap With Wire in Midair​ - This pit trap will spring when the party is 5 feet away from
it. ​A trap springs nearly 5 feet before you as you walk this hall. The sound of the trap
springing echoes through the halls as if a deep crack of wood and stone slapping
against one another. Peering into the trap reveals a pit of spikes 10 feet down into the
hole.​ The trap is 5 feet wide, and 10 feet long. If the party steps away from the trap, the
floor rises once more and covers the trap.
If someone falls into the trap, then they will take ​8d8​ piercing damage and are
considered restrained until someone provides aid for them to exit the trap. ​A DC 20
Perception or Investigation Check​ reveals a small thin wire in the middle of the air
above the trap at normal walking level. If someone attempted to jump the trap’s pit
without checking, they will hit the wire and fall into the trap below.
11. Secret Pathway​ - ​A DC 18 Passive Perception Check​ while on either side of the
pathway will reveal a small indentation in the wall roughly the size of a finger. If someone
pushes on the indentation, a pathway between both sides will open up.
12. Stairs to B2 ​- ​A doorway made of thick wood and an iron handle stands before you at
the end of the hall. ​When the group opens the door - ​A loud moaning of the hinges on
the door fills the rooms behind and in front of you. Looking into the room, there is a set of
winding staircases the lead into the darkness below.
These stairs lead to floor ​B2 ​and go nearly 40 feet down.
13. Stairs from B1 ​- Exactly the same as ​Room 12​, only the stairs are ascending on the
inside of the door back to floor ​B1.
14. Dangling Rope​ ​Room (Upper) ​- T ​ he party comes across a room that is 25 feet wide, by
25 feet long, and drops down to a pit nearly 60 feet below their level. There is a rope
dangling in the center of the room attached to a spiked ceiling above, as well as
attached to a spike covered floor below. There is another hallway like yours 25 feet
across this pit, with the rope being 12 feet away from the edge of your hallway. A ​ DC 15
Perception Check​ reveals 2 other hallways roughly 40 feet below the level that you are
standing on, one on the left wall, and another on the right. ​A DC 25 Perception Check
reveals skulls and bones on the ceiling impaled on the spikes.
The Dangling Rope room is filled with an Anti-Gravity spell. If someone jumps for
the rope, they will suddenly find themselves essentially upside down, attempting to hold
on to the rope before being pulled up towards the ceiling. Because this flips their
character around, they must make ​A DC 23 STR Save​ or they will fly up to the ceiling,
taking ​8d8​ piercing damage, and will be restrained until someone can help them out of
the spikes. Knowing that they will fall upside down, subsequent attempts to grab the
rope will ​reduce the DC by 8​ for catching the rope.
When a character is on the rope, they can make an attempted swinging leap over
to another hallway entrance, with ​A DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics Check​. If they fail
the check, they will fly upwards into the ceiling spike trap, taking ​8d8​ piercing damage,
and become restrained until someone can help them out of the spikes.
15. Servant’s Quarters​ - ​Upon entering the room you are greeted with the smell of wet and
moldy linens, as well as rotting wood and fungus. There appears to have been nearly 2
dozen beds in this room at one point, though time has taken the majority of them now.

7
 There are a few small drops of water dripping from the ceiling. Puddles can be found
throughout the room, and mounds of dirt and decay fill the corners. It appears that this
was once more than simply a crypt, but a home for a large number of people.
This is a great place for the party to rest without being attacked.
16. Collapsed Hallway ​- ​Your forward path is blocked by a cave in. Rock and rubble fill the
hallway for an unknown distance before you.
There is far too much rock for anyone to move unless the party is willing to spend
days down here in the effort. Anyone with the ability to fit between 1 inch of material can
make their way through the rubble.
17. Treasure Room​ - A small room that has been sealed in by the collapsed hallway. There
is a broken door on the ground with an intricate lock that looks to have been smashed in
by the stone. Several urns and vases of once great value lay broken and worthless on
the floor. ​The room contains several small boxes and chests filled with varying amounts
of coin, as well as a singular amulet lying on the ground near shattered glass and an
upturned display case.
The group finds the following:
● 1d100 each of copper, silver, gold and platinum pieces
● An ​Amulet of Planar Travel ​(The Amulet of Planar Travel Item can be found in
the Appendix)
18. Revolving Room ​- U ​ pon entering the room, you find a circular room with 7 pillars
surrounding a platform raised 2 feet in the air. Each of these pillars is located in each
direction from the center of the room except South out of the doorway that you just came
through. (North, North East, East, South East, South West, West, North West.) On the
platform is a stone lever attached to a stone wheel anchored to the ground. The pillars
all look to be in perfect condition, as does the rest of the room. There are no bricks or
mortars on the walls, save for the entrance that you just came through. Past the
doorway, is a small archway made of stone that you pass through when moving into the
room. Upon entering the room, you hear in a deep whispered voice, echoing in the crypt-
“Bring the Blood unto my veins, and free yourself of mortal chains. Turn the dial one
alone, or this crypt will be your home.”
The lever in the middle of the room acts as a mechanism that causes the entire
room to revolve. The single archway positioned without a pillar in front of it is the only
way in or out of this room, and its location turns and changes based on the direction that
the lever is pushed. Turning the lever clockwise will rotate the archway, stone pillars, and
the entire room that you are in one direction clockwise. (i.e. from South to South West.) If
you were facing a different direction, you will continue to rotate clockwise. (North would
go to North East, and so on and so forth.) If you rotate the lever counter-clockwise,
everything rotates one direction counter-clockwise (from South to South East). Rotating
the room changes what doorway you are able to go through. The possible rooms are
Rooms 19 - 25. ​Each room has a doorway that you must open before entering.
It takes an entire minute for the lever to rotate enough to change the direction of
the room. Only one person may touch the lever at a given time and rotate it. If two

8
 people ever touch the lever, they will both take ​6d6​ necrotic damage. The lever must be
rotated by a living being, or else the lever will not budge.
19. Second Lever + Basilisk Den​ - ​When you open the door to this room, you are greeted
with the sight of broken and crumbled statues near an identical lever system to the one
in the revolving room. These statues are of various humanoids, some of which have bite
marks into their stone surfaces.
The lever in this room is a perfect mirror of the Revolving Room lever. If you turn
one of them, the other turns as well. If you turn either lever and seal this room off from
the Revolving Room, a stone slab on the eastern wall of the room opens up and a
Basilisk comes out of its den. The Basilisk is immediately hostile. It is entirely possible
for a single person to be in this room alone with the Basilisk. If the party defeats the
Basilisk, they can crawl into its den. ​The small cave like room is filled with pieces of
stone statues that the Basilisk had been gnawing upon for food.
20. Monowire Trap Room​ - ​You open the door to find a small room about 25 x 30 feet. At
the end of this room is a pedestal with a small box sitting upon it. There appears to be a
dark brown and black residue on parts of the floor. ​A DC 18 Investigation or Survival
Check​ reveals the residue to be ancient blood that has splattered on the floor.
The box is trapped. If it leaves the pedestal or is opened, then the trap springs.
Inside the box is a note that reads ​‘Now I know what you are after. You want my horn.
Come and claim it for yourself then… I’ll be waiting.’
Upon opening or moving the box, the party hears several clicks and what sounds
like springs stretching to their limits. Placing the box back down does nothing to remove
the trap. The doorway exit is now filled with Monowire in varying angles and heights.
Monowire is a material that is so thin that it can cut through anything as if it is not there,
even plate or magical objects. Have the party make a perception check. ​A DC 20
Perception Check ​reveals the wire covering the hallway. If someone were to specifically
“run” through this hallway to quickly escape, they would immediately be cut into several
pieces and die. They can be put back together and resurrected in normal means, but
their armor and weapons will be destroyed alongside their clothes. Any item larger than
a loaf of bread will be irreparably destroyed.
Someone can attempt to disarm the trap wires with ​A DC 26 Check with
Thieves Tools​ to remove the wires. Otherwise, the party will have to make their way
through the intricate web of wires. Anyone who attempts to maneuver their way through
the wires must be a Medium creature or smaller and must make ​A DC 16 DEX Check​ in
order to pass through unharmed. On a failed check, they take ​6d8​ slashing damage, and
roll a d6. On a 1 or 2, have them roll on the table below with a ​d6​, they suffer physical
damage corresponding with their roll. These afflictions can be cured with creative
means, such as the Greater Restoration spell if you pick up the removed appendage, or
by any other means that the DM deems acceptable.

9
 Roll Effect

1 Lose Your Left Arm

2 Lose Your Right Arm

3 Lose Your Left Leg

4 Lose Your Right Leg

5 Lose Your Ears (Permanent

Disadvantage to sound based Perception
checks.)

6 Lose Your Nose (Permanent

Disadvantage to Persuasion checks.)

21. Drider Sanctuary ​- ​You attempt to open the door, but it appears to be slightly stuck. You
are sure that if you pulled harder, you would be able to open the door. ​If they continue to
open the door - ​The door swings open and you are greeted with the sight of a field of
large spiderwebs. The ceiling in this large room is coated in sticky webs and large sacks
with unknown victims strung inside of them. You can hear skittering across the walls and
floors of the room.
A DC 17 Perception Check​ allows the player to see a Drider hunched over
something in the far corner, alone gnawing at some dead creature. The Drider will notice
them unless they sneak into the room, and they must beat ​A DC 17 Stealth Check ​to
remain hidden from the Drider. The Drider is hostile and will not attempt to communicate
with them in any way if he notices them.
The room also contains 6 Phase Spiders hidden in the webs. They will not attack
unless the Drider enters combat. At that time they will start combat in the Ethereal Plane
and attack the party.
If the party is victorious they can search the room. They will find several naked
bodies who have been drained of their fluids and have green liquid coursing through
their veins. There is nothing of particular value within the room.
22. Cloning Room​ - ​Before opening the door, you notice a bright green glow coming from
below the door. The doorway doesn’t have enough space for you to get a good look
through the bottom, just enough for the glow to be present.​ ​If the party continues through
the door - ​You open the door to a room filled with a bright green glow. The glow appears
to be originating from several glass pods and vats with open lids. The pods contain
bodies and skeletons at various stages of decomposition, though there doesn’t appear to
be any wounds or scars on the bodies.
A DC 15 Investigation Check​ shows that the bodies all appear to be the same
individual. A man with black hair and a staunch face. The faces and skin are free of
scars and the hair appears to be freshly growing.

10
 These are clones being created of the same person that the group saw in the
zombie cages from before. This also appears to be the same man that was in the
pictures in the Gallery. The green glowing liquid is not harmful, and any attempt to
remove the liquid from the pods or vats will cause the liquid to no longer glow. The
bodies in the pods are not fully developed, and therefore they cannot be brought to life
by any means. They are essentially hollow vessels.
23. Stairs to B3 ​- ​A small hallway ends and turns to the right, where another small hallway
leads to a door. B ​ ehind this door is a set of stairs similar to the stairs in ​Room 12​, except
these stairs lead to floor B3.
24. Pit of Bones​ - ​As soon as you open the door, piles and piles of bones begin to pour out
like sand in an hourglass. A brief look inside the room reveals a mound of bones nearly
20 feet tall. I​ f someone closes the door, 6 Skeletons will rise from the bones that poured
out through the door while it was open and immediately attack the party. If they do not
close the door and instead choose to explore the room, the bones will begin to shake
when they reach the top of the mound.
Out of the bones and skulls, a Bone Devil will spring forth along with 10
Skeletons and attack the party.
There is nothing but bones and skulls inside the room.
25. Faceless Horror’s Lair ​- ​The door before you has strange markings in black ink along
its surface. ​(Detect Magic indicates that there is a ward of Abjuration on the door.)
You open the door to find a featureless man on his knees on the floor panting and
pounding his fits into the ground. The sound of you opening the door has his ears perk
up, as he turns around to face your direction. You can see his ears twitching and moving
back and forth in the air. The body of this featureless humanoid is extremely muscular
and is covered in bloody scars and runic tattoos. It has no face, no nose, no mouth, no
body hair, no genitals, and stands at a nearly 6 feet tall.
If anyone in the party makes a sound, the Faceless Horror immediately pounces
on them and attacks. The Faceless Horror has no initiative and no actions to make. It
has No Hit Points and 1 AC. It cannot be killed, and is immune to all types of magic, and
physical attacks. It can still be affected by magical effects (Wall of Stone, Thunderwave’s
force push etc.), but it cannot be harmed by them. It is immune to all magical effects
such as charm, petrification, etc. Weapons will sink into the horror, only to then be
ejected by its flesh, where the wound will heal itself instantly.
Each time someone moves or casts a spell with a verbal component, the
Faceless Horror reacts after the action is complete and charges up to 60 feet towards
the sound of the mover/caster. The Horror pummels the target for 4d6 bludgeoning
damage with its fists and feet if it reaches its target. It has an infinite number of reactions
per round. It reacts to the last sound it heard each time. If someone were to throw a rock,
it would react to the sound of the rock hitting the ground, and not the throwing of the
rock. The party must get the Faceless Horror to go back into its room and close the door
or else it will continue its rampage. The Faceless Horror is unable to exit the door of the
room when it is closed.

11
26. Stairs from B2 ​- This is the exact same room as ​Room 13​, only the stairs ascend to
floor ​B2.
27. Be My Wits Puzzle ​- Y ​ ou come across a long hallway about 15 feet in width. The floor is
made up of alternating stone and marble tiles through the duration, and the wall is solid
carved rock. You can hear what sounds like metal scraping against rocks in the distance.
As you step into the hallway you can see a faint amount a light ahead of you, before the
light suddenly roars to life in jets of fire. There appear to be flame vents at the other end
of the hall that are jetting out flames every few seconds in a random pattern. This light is
bright enough to illuminate the hallway briefly every time it does this. As the flames light
the hall, you can see the telltale signs of traps in front of you and silhouettes of swinging
objects in front of the flames. You hear a familiar deep whisper as the crypt rumbles in
response to the whisper: “Be my wits to make your way through. A calm head will be a
virtue.”
Every 50 feet, there is a new trap in this hallway, all are perceivable without a
perception check, except for the first trap - the boulder trap. You can either reveal all
traps at once to the group, if they score a perception check high enough ​(a DC 20 to see
nearly 250 feet of hallway traps not including the boulder trap)​.​ ​If not, as soon as
they pass one trap, reveal to them the trap that follows. They are all seasoned
adventurers to have made it this far. These are common traps, and they can identify
them by looking at them.
Though the traps are identifiable, that doesn’t mean that they are easy to
maneuver past. Each trap has its name, description, DC required to successfully avoid
the trap, and the effects of failing the DC for the trap in the table below.
There is one exception to these traps, and that is the boulder trap. It is very well
hidden, and requires ​A DC 25 Perception or Investigation Check​ to be noticed. If the
players trigger the wire trap for the boulder, a 15 foot wide and tall boulder falls out of an
angled trap in the ceiling, rolling it down the hallway, starting at the entrance nearest
Room 26​, and stopping when it reaches the end of the hallway. The Boulder makes a
deafening sound against the rock as it rolls, making it impossible for the players to
communicate vocally. The catch is, the boulder is an illusion, but the party does not
know this. If the boulder ever catches up to one of them, it passes through them
harmlessly until it reaches the end of the hallway. Only if a party member asks for an
Arcana, Investigation or Perception check against the boulder with ​A DC 19​ to recognize
it as an illusion, as it rolls towards them, they can recognize the illusion early. If they do
not recognize the illusion and choose to try and run and make their way through the
traps, then they are considered ​Rushed​, and have ​disadvantage​ on all the DC
checks/saves in the table below.
Trap Name Description DC for Effects of a failed
Avoiding skill check
the Trap

Swinging 3 Massive Guillotines swing DC 15 3d12 bludgeoning

Guillotines back and forth between slits in Athletics or damage

12
 the walls of the hallway. Their Acrobatics
axe heads are old and rusty, Check
but still maintain a great
sharpness.

Poisoned Darts A wall of holes with tiny needles DC 15 DEX 2d4 Piercing
sticking out of the ends. The Check + DC Damage +
needles appear to be covered 15 CON Afflicted by the
in a dark green substance that Save if a Poison Status until
gives off an acrid aroma. failed DEX the end of their
Check next long rest if
occurs they fail the
subsequent CON
Save

Flame Vents 6 Jets of flames, 3 on each DC 15 INT 6d6 Fire Damage

opposite wall create a curtain of Check to
flames blocking your pathway. get the
The flames jet out at a timing right
seemingly random interval of
seconds. You must time your
run just right in order to make it
through.

Acid Drip A steady rainfall of acid drips in DC 15 DEX 4d10 Acid

front of the 5 foot wood hallway Check Damage
entrance. Sizzling sounds can
be heard as the acid falls into a
drain in the floor below. Small
gaps in the acid fall allow you to
barely squeeze your way
through.
If the party should find out that the boulder is an illusion and choose to take their
time through the hallway, they can tackle each trap normally and without disadvantage.
They can also attempt to disarm each trap by beating ​A DC 17 Check with Thieves
Tools​ on each of the traps. Each trap takes roughly a minute to dismantle if done this
way.
28. Oil Pitfall Trap​ - ​You come along a much shorter and more narrow hallway with a
glowing firelight around the corner of the nearly 50 foot hallway. The floor has returned
to the normal stone work that had filled the crypt previously.
An Oil Pitfall Trap is hiding in wait halfway through this hallway. ​A DC 21
Perception Check​ reveals the stone slab that pushes down to activate the trap.
Activating the trap plummets the entire hallway into a 10 foot deep vat of black oil. Only
the last 10 feet of hallway does not fall with the trap. The party is now covered in
extremely flammable oil. If they do not activate the trap, they can proceed as normal.
The oil will not come off with a cantrip such as prestidigitation, but must be fully washed

13
 from their bodies with running water, or a spell of 1st level or higher with applicable
attributes. There is a small ladder on the end of the trap that allows the party to climb out
of the trap and move forward to the next room.
29. Room Filled With Candles​ - ​You turn the corner to find a long hallway with walls that
are coated in white wax. The source of the firelight makes itself clear, as much of the
walls are covered in wicks that burn with tiny everburning flames. The hallway extends
for nearly 80 feet of this waxy burning tunnel before turning a corner into another
passageway.
If the party did not fall in the oil trap in ​Room 29​, this hallway will cause no
problems for them. They will be able to detect magic of the flames that burn endlessly in
the wax but nothing more. The flames do produce heat but not enough to harm them
without directly touching the flame.
If someone enters this hallway while still covered in the black oil, then they must
make ​A DC 19 DEX Check​ to make it through without being touched by one of the
flames. A creature of size Large or greater automatically fails this check. (Though a
creature of size Huge or greater could not fit down these hallways in the first place.) If
they fail the DEX check, they will be engulfed in flames until the fire can be put out taking
2d6 fire damage every 6 seconds. This is an oil fire, so dousing it in water will not help.
They must be either completely submerged in water, have the air snuffed out around
them, or have the fire magically put out.
30. Underground Pool​ - (If the party enters from ​Room 29​) ​You enter down a small set of
stairs onto a stationary stone dock. The dock is only 15 x 15 feet, and not meant for
large vessel docking. The room is both vast and dark, and the walls are smooth carved
stone. The ceilings in this vast room go nearly 100 feet tall, and the sound echoes
across a huge expanse of water. The water below the docks is a dark blue, and even
with a torch lighting the water nearby, it is very hard to see down into the depths of this
pool.
In the distance, if the party has some way to see in the dark cavern, there is a
second dock with a small 2 person boat floating next to it. The boat can seat only 2
people, any attempt to fit more than 2 Medium creatures in it results in the boat capsizing
and falling into the deep blue below. There is no oar in the small boat to move the boat
forward. On the second set of stone docks, there is a small set of stairs that lead out and
into the next hallway. (If the party enters from ​Room 31​, read the description of the room
above, but from this second docks, with the boat nearby.)
The water itself is quite dangerous as well. The constant surge of necromantic
energy throughout this crypt has corrupted the waters over the millennia. If anyone
touches the water, they must make ​A DC 16 CHA​ ​Save​. On a failed save, they feel an
inescapable urge to jump into the water and swim to the bottom of the pool, resulting in
their drowning death (treat this as normal drowning for saves and checks made to
recover). The player may make a save after 1 minute of diving further into the water, and
again at each additional minute interval. A successful saves reveals the dark nature of
the pool, and you feel warned against touching the water in the pool.

14
 On an island of jagged stone and rock protruding from the pool lies a corpse in
old rusted chain armor and a soldiers helmet, propped up against one of the jagged
rocks. If anyone gets closer to the island, the corpse begins to move its head in the
direction of the movement. If anyone gets within 30 feet of the island, the corpse will
move its hand in a waving gesture, as if to wave them away and towards the nearest
docks.
Should anyone land on the island or attempt to communicate with the skeleton, it
will remain seated up against one of the jagged rocks, and attempt to communicate with
the party with hand signals. As an undead, it cannot speak, but will do its best to warn
the party of the dangers of the lake with the signaling. It is not hostile to the party, unless
they have an undead with them, in which case the skeleton will raise and begin attacking
the undead being.
Peering into the skeleton and its past via magical means reveals their name to
have once been Barnibus. Barnibus was an adventurer much like the party at one point
in time, and came into the crypt nearly 600 years ago. He wanted to find Demi’Rova and
slay him for creating these undead abominations. Barnibus was once a paladin of Helm,
and he had a vision that he was to come down here and prevent an undead curse upon
the land. He was successful in killing a great and powerful undead the lived in this pool,
but lost his life in the process. He has suffered in an undead solitude in this darkness
ever since.
31. Dangling Rope Room (Lower)​ - ​You come into a room very familiar to one that you
have seen before. Spikes line both the ceiling and the floor below with a dangling rope
tied to both the ceiling and floor spikes. 40 feet above, to the left and right walls of the
room are hallways roughly 5 feet wide.
The party is in the same room as ​Room 14​. The situation is identical to that
room, only they are now on the lower level hallways. If they were to jump, they would fall
upwards in the same way that they did before. To see what the DC’s and checks are,
refer back to ​Room 14​.
32. Underground Forest First Half​ - ​Looking into the room before you, you notice there are
several trees growing within the crypt, as well as grass and flowers. This room opens up
much like a cave, only the ground is grassy and flourishing. A closer examination of the
trees and the flowers reveals them to be void of all color. The grass grows in a faded
grey, and the bark of the trees is ghostly white. The leaves are a deep black and the
flowers are all black roses. Though they appear to be alive and growing naturally, they
send a tingle down your spine when peering into them. Walking through the cavern, you
hear the sound of your footsteps as if walking on a beach. Placing your hand in the dirt
you pull up black sand that falls slowly between your fingers. Further ahead, you can
hear the sound of rushing and falling water in the distance.
As the party walks further into the cavern, anyone with a ​Passive Perception​ (or
Active​ ​Perception​ if they choose to make a check) ​of 17​ will hear rustling within the
trees. From behind one of the larger trees in the cavern, a small skeletal squirrel will
walk towards the party. The squirrel seems curious and cautious at the same time. Any
attempts to communicate in a verbal manner fail, even for those who can speak to

15
 animals, as the undead nature of the squirrel doesn’t allow for it to speak back to the
party. The leaves in the trees will rustle again, as a small skeletal bird in the shape of a
sparrow will fly down near their feet and begin pecking at the grass.
If the party kills either of the skeletal critters, the other one runs away quickly into
the trees again for safety.
33. Oaken Bridge​ - ​At the end of the small cavern you find gnarled and warped trees that
turn and twist together to form a bridge. This bridge spans nearly 20 feet wide and
expands over a nearly 100 feet long gap. Stepping on the gnarled oaken bridge gives
you the impression that it is quite sturdy.
Walking across the bridge the sound of the rushing and falling water begins to
roar in your ears to the right of the bridge. A ​ nyone with darkvision or a light source
allowing them to see past 30 feet of darkness can see a large waterfall pouring out of a
slit in the wall to the depths below. The waterfall goes nearly 120 feet down and drops
into a spiky river below. If anyone has a way to see that far down. It leads to the
Collapsed Bridge, Room 39​ on floor ​B4​.
34. Cave Behind the Waterfall​ - Should anyone attempt to make a perception check on the
waterfall, ​A DC 25​ ​Perception Check​ will reveal that there appears to be an opening to
the mouth of a cave. The waterfall is not particularly powerful, and someone with a
strong enough will to make it behind could do so. The cave entrance sits nearly 100 feet
above the ground, and the only way to get to it is through the waterfall, so someone
must climb and try and hold on through the might of the waterfall to get to the cave, ​A
DC 25 Athletics Check​. They could also fly, or get a grappling hook onto the entrance
of the cave. If they attempt to climb while using a rope from the hook, the ​DC​ becomes
20 instead of 25. If they instead grappel from the bridge and use the grappel’s rope to
walk across, then the ​DC f​ or maintaining their balance while being pummeled by the
waterfall is ​A DC 18 Acrobatics or Athletics Check​.
Upon entering the cave read: ​The cave floor is made of wet stone. Jagged
stalactites and stalagmites protrude from nearly every surface and angle of the cave. It
appears to have been here an extremely long time. Near the back of the cave sits a
single skeleton wearing tattered robes and a satchel. S ​ hould the players choose to
investigate the satchel - ​The satchel contains mold and fungus from a long unopened
wizard’s spell component pouch. His spellbook is rotted and ruined from the time spent
near the falls. There is however a small glass vial with a note inside.
The party can choose to open the vial and read the note. In doing so, they shift
the balance of the skeleton, and its head falls to the cave floor and cracks. The note
reads - ​“I am dying. I came to this place in search of Demi’Rova, and I found the target. I
did not know he had become an entity of death. I read on his life, and by all accounts
this is unorthodox to be certain. He lived a benevolent life, and he loved his family above
all else. A gifted, but not spectacular magician in life, he grew obsessed with bringing the
dead back to life after the unfortunate deaths of his wife and child. I still believe that he is
a good man, but he has been corrupted by Orcus’ foul magics.”
35. Underground Forest Second Half​ - ​The end of the bridge opens up to another
cave-like mouth, much like the small forest you just left. There are a number of trees

16
 growing much thicker and taller than in the previous room, and the grass is nearly knee
height to a gnome. A ​ DC 23 Group Stealth Check​ can be made to sneak past this room
without detection.
As your feet touch the grass beneath you, you can hear an unnerving roar that
echoes through the cave. The roar sounds as if it is coming from that of a bear, but one
in great pain. From behind one of the larger trees comes a giant and dire grizzly bear,
with signs of undeath marking its body. The jaw of the bear is open and skeletal, with its
ribcage entirely exposed. It lacks any sort of eyes leaving only hollow sockets. The rear
legs are not but muscle and bone. It is truly terrifying to behold. The great deathly bear
approaches you slowly, reaching roughly 30 feet away from you before stopping, as if
waiting for something.
The Underground Forest is considered J’Nai’s Lair. If the party attacks, they
immediately fight J’Nai starting in his Bear Form. His stat block can be found in the
Appendix. If they choose instead to try and sneak or move around the bear now that it is
aware of their presence, it will attempt to walk in front of their forward path until they
either fight, leave, or talk to it. If the party talk with the bear, it morphs into a Large
undead Firbolg form, naked and carrying a gnarled oaken staff.
J’Nai speaks in very direct matter of fact way, and does not get sarcasm or the
manners of polite conversation. J’Nai speaks Common, Druidic and Goblin. J’Nai will
reveal information about the cave, but rarely anything about Demi’Rova. The cave itself
was naturally occuring and a place of Druidic importance to J’Nai’s people long ago. It
was dug into by the makers of Demi’Rova’s Crypt so that J’Nai and Demi could be buried
near one another. They were great friends in life, and J’Nai chose to live in undeath so
that Demi’Rova would not have to live out eternity alone.
If the party attempts to press J’Nai for information, ​A DC 20 Persuasion Check
will reveal that J’Nai was part of an ancient and magical order that was created to seal
Demi’Rova into the Crypts below. J’Nai joined the order to ensure that they did not
destroy his old friend, and instead pleaded that he be locked away down here in order to
study dark magics alone, where he could not hurt anyone. The seal on the crypt is made
to keep Demi’Rova locked beneath the ground, and the traps and intricacies of the crypt
were made to dissuade outsiders and adventurers from attempting to interact with the
power that Demi’Rova commanded.
A DC 30 Persuasion Check​ will allow the party to convince J’Nai to let them
pass by, as long as they don’t attempt to say that they are here to harm Demi’Rova or
the underground forest in any way. If the party takes actions that are hostile to him, or
the forest, he will still attack the party even if they have already convinced him to let
them pass. If he is alive when the party passes through the forest still, they will see him
transform back into the bear and walk about the forest.
36. Stairs to B4​ - ​These stairs are not like the other stairs that you have seen so far. The
door leading to them is made of stone, and its handle is made from silver. The door has
artwork carved into its surface depicting a group of magical beings casting magics upon
a skeletal figure deep beneath the earth. The door opens to another set of winding stairs

17
 that lead nearly 100 feet below. The door on the inside of the stairs depicts the same
carving as the one above.
37. Stairs to B3 ​- These stairs are the same stairs as ​Room 36​,​ ​and head upwards, back to
floor ​B3.
There is a long hallway after exiting the stairs. As you step foot into the hallway,
the sconces are filled with an eerie blue flame that lights the hallway before you. The
flames are not connected to anything, and the sconces in which they rest are mangled
and destroyed, much like those on the upper floors. The flames give off no heat, only an
ominous blue light.
38. Smith’s Room​ - ​Turning the corner, you see a large empty room with a great stone door
lit up by similar blue flames to the hallway behind you. The door has a single lock in it’s
center, and arcane runes coating it’s surface. A ​ ​Detect Magic​ spell will reveal that these
runes are a ward of Abjuration magic. An ​Identify​ spell will allow the user to see that the
ward will only allow silver enter into the keyhole. ​The room has a large statue of a smith
over a great stone anvil stands in the center of the room. The elven smith is holding a
mighty stone smithing hammer above the anvil. Around the room are broken and
scattered pieces of chalk and remnants of teleportation circles.
The walls of the room are painted like a mural, though the paint is faded and
cracked. The mural depicts a man coming to a smithy and requesting an item. The
smithy makes a thin silver chain that the man then wraps around a small vial and that he
holds tightly to his chest.
The deep rumble that you have become familiar with begins to erupt once again,
this time, seemingly coming from behind the door. You hear that deep earthy whisper
“Be my hands to open the door. Using a key you do not already have in store.”
The room is a puzzle. There is chalk all over the floor, but no way through the
door. Only silver can enter the lock, so any attempt to use thieves tools will break the
tools on contact with the lock. If an attempt is made to unlock the door, then place a ​d6
with the ‘1’ side aimed upwards onto the center of the table. As you do so, describe the
blue flames beginning to burn a brighter blue. If another attempt is made to pass but
fails, then increase the number on the d6 by one. If the d6 ever faces a 6 on the top,
then the blue flames begin to glow blindingly bright before erupting in a surge of fire as if
from the spell Fireball cast at 7th level. The range of the fire consumes the entire room
and extends to the hallway with the sconces before it. After the flames burn, they return
back to their normal brightness, and the d6 is placed with it’s ‘1’ side facing up back on
the table.
The answer to the puzzle is to take the chalk and draw on the anvil on the smith’s
statue. If the party draws on the anvil, the smith will strike at the anvil with its mighty
hammer, scattering the chalk and ruining the drawing. Placing any objects on the anvil
will cause the hammer to strike, causing the object to disappear entirely. If the party
draws a key on the anvil, however, the smith will strike at the anvil, and when the
hammer moves away, there will be a silver key resting on the anvil. This key can be
used to turn the lock, but it has no other use. It’s valued at roughly 50gp.

18
 Placing the key in the lock will remove the glyphs and runes covering the door.
Turning the key will then cause the door to shake and rumble, opening up to the other
side, revealing ​Room 39​.
39. Collapsed Bridge ​- A ​ broken stone bridge is crumbled before you. The river in which it
fell runs at a frightening speed. (​ If they came out ​Room 38​, instead of coming down from
the opening at the bridge.) ​On the left side of the bridge is the base of a waterfall. Spiked
and pointed rocks cover the base of this torrent of water and leads into the river. The
river runs to an opening in the rock to your right. It doesn’t look like much air can fit
between where the water runs and the mouth of the opening is. The bridge spanned
over a 15 foot gap, and it now provides no way to get across this river.
The river itself is fresh water and can be drunk without any ill side effects. The
river runs out to a small lake on the bottom of a cliff in the forest outside of the Crypt.
There is no air to breathe above river past the opening in the cave, and it runs for a great
distance in the rock of the mountain. It takes 4 minutes to ride the water out to the lake
via the river. ​A DC 14​ ​Athletics Check​ can reduce the amount of time it takes to reach
the end of the river by 1 minute. Follow the normal rules for holding your breath and
drowning when it comes to the time stuck in the river.
40. Zad’s Run ​- ​Before turning the corner, you find that the stone path slowly degrades into
crumbled rock and mud. There is evidence of the floor being a pathway long ago, but
now it is all mud and muck. The sound of the fierce river now behind you, the darkness
of the hall begins to crowd its way into your mind.
If the adventurers turn the corner, they see - ​Turning the corner, the end of the
hallway has similar blue firelight coming from around the corner. The long hallway is
completely covered in mud and muck, only now there are broken bones and skulls
littering the passageway.
At the end of the hall, hidden behind dark shadows (unless someone has
darkvision), is a skeletal minotaur named Zad. Zad is an ever watchful guardian of
Demi’Rova’s chambers, and will charge and attack as soon as anyone reaches halfway
down the hall. The muck and mud are considered difficult terrain, and causes everyone
to move at half movement speed during the fight. Zad will charge and attempt to gore
those closest to the next hallway. He makes no sound, other than the heavy stomp of his
hooves against the mud as he does so. Zad’s stat block can be found in the Appendix.
After defeating Zad - ​You turn the corner to find sconces with blue flame torches
lining the wall, only this time, the sconces are fully intact. The floor has returned to the
stone floor that the rest of the crypt has held, and is no longer muddy and broken. The
hallway leads to a double door set in the stone wall on your left side. The double door is
closed, but made of wood with silver handles on the door. The archway covering the
doors has intricate decorative stonework along the archway. The stone has in the
appearance of traditional Elvish wedding flowers. Stone vines and flowers wrap around
the archway, and at the top there is writing in Elvish. ​(If someone reads Elvish) ​The
writing reads - “For my beloved Nairiella. I would tear the world asunder, to hold you in
my arms once again.”

19
41. Altar of Resurrection​ - ​Upon opening the magnificent doors, a great hall sits on the
other side. The hall is lit with blue flame torches sitting upon 8 large pillars the span from
the ceiling to the floor. The pillars are smooth stone, but covered in stone vines and
flowers, similar to those on the archway of the door in the previous room. At the end of
the room is a staircase that leads up to an altar of stone. Behind the altar sits a throne of
that is also made of stone, but decorated with the skulls of a myriad of beings. At the foot
of the stairs rests the remains of a skeletal dragon with blue skin covering its wings and
falling from its bones. The skeletal dragon is chained to 2 of the pillars, though it appears
to not be moving. Sitting on the throne is a hooded figure wearing black robes. The
robes obscure the body of the figure, as well as its face.
As soon as someone steps into the hall, the hooded figure’s head seems to react
to the motion. An eerie dark whisper of a voice comes from the direction of the figure.
The first person to have entered the hall is who the voice speaks to. “I see you have
made it this far _____ (Name of the character.)... Did you not think that the dangers you
have faced in my crypts were a warning for those who were foolish enough to enter my
domain?”
The hooded figure is Demi’Rova. Demi’Rova is a lich of immense power over
necrotic magics. All of the information provided about him in the next few paragraphs
can be revealed through conversation, either via Persuasion or Deception. How much
information you choose to reveal is up to you. Demi’Rova feels no qualms about
revealing this information, as he doesn’t particularly feel that the adventurers will get a
chance to tell anyone of what they learn. Demi’Rova is open to conversation, as he has
not had any in a long while, and will not immediately attack the party.
Demi’Rova was an Elf who lived in a now forgotten kingdom, until he was
banished for his practice of dark magic. He felt betrayed, as his dark magics saved the
kingdom time and time again. It was only when he became a Lich that the kingdom
decided that he could no longer be tolerated.
He was a simple vineyard worker once upon a time, until he met a highborne
woman whom he fell deeply in love with. Miraculously, she fell in love with him all the
same, much to the disdain of others. They eventually wed and had a child together.
They were happy for a great long time, until one day his wife and child were caught in a
house fire and perished. Demi’Rova had never been the same without his wife. She
meant everything to him, and he could not bear her loss.
Demi’Rova grew obsessed with being able to bring his wife back to life. He
pleaded to every god that he could, and none gave him an answer. So he turned to
necromancy as a way to bring his wife back to life. By the time he became a master of
death, nearly 300 years had passed. His chance to bring her back was beyond his
grasp. He once brought his wife and child back with a wish spell, but she was a hollow
shell of herself. Their souls were copies, and not the originals. This drove Demi’Rova
into a spiral of despair. He eventually turned to the magic of liches, as what he thought
would be his chance at bringing them back. He sacrificed an innocent life, something he
had never done before, even with his necromancy, in order to become a lich.

20
 This crypt once used to be a great underground mansion. Demi’Rova spent much
of his adulthood in the presence of the Drow in the Underdark, and so he decided to
build it underground where he felt comfortable. It was later turned into a deviously
trapped crypt as a seal keeping Demi’Rova and his undead abominations underground.
Demi’Rova began experimenting with clones and copies of himself and his
family, but still to no perfect success. His failures he turned into mindless zombies and
skeletons that he kept sealed off in cages near the entrance of the crypt. He created
both miracles of magic such as the faceless horror, and commands the respect of a
number of creatures that reside within this crypt with him.
At the mention of any other liches or undead entities, Demi’Rova will reveal that
he has fought other liches when he was an Elf. He fought back Acererak at the Tomb of
Annihilation and saved the Forgotten Realms from certain doom with his partner J’Nai.
He feels that other liches are not as powerful as he is, as they focus too heavily on
magic that he deems to be lesser than the necrotic magics.
Important Note​ - Demi’Rova is kind hearted, but the evil magics and processes
that are involved with becoming a lich has slowly eaten away at the good inside of him.
He can be persuaded to let the adventurers leave with their lives and not fight them
himself, if they are able to convince him that their purpose is to save the lives of those
that they love. If they have no mention of people that they are close to, or a noble cause
for their disturbing his exile then he will not allow them to leave, and fight to destroy the
party. If he does allow them to leave, he will choose to test their determination, and snap
his fingers while walking past the throne into a room behind him. In doing so, the skeletal
dragon will begin to awaken. The chains holding it to the pillars will break as it stands,
and the party will begin a fight with an Adult Blue Dracolich. If the party does not
convince him that their cause is just, they will instead fight Demi’Rova. Demi’Rova is
counted as a Lich in its Lair.
After one of the two fights ceases, the following will happen-
Dracolich Fight ​- Demi’Rova will come out of the room behind the throne holding
a box. He will float down the stairs and pull his hood back to reveal his skeletal face. He
will hand the party the box and say “Go now. If you enter my crypt again, I will rip your
souls from their mortal coils.” The box contains the ​Horn of the Ancient Mariner​, as
well as ​1d6​ x 300 platinum pieces (The Horn of the Ancient Mariner Item can be found in
the Appendix). He will then return to the altar and begin casting a spell. When doing so,
you will see the skeletal remains of the Dracolich begin to twitch and reform itself. If
anyone attempts to speak to Demi’Rova again, he will ignore them. If anyone says
anything about his wife or child in a negative light, attempts to take his vial necklace, or
try and go into the room behind his throne, he will stop the ritual, and begin combat with
the party.
Demi’Rova Fight​ - The blue flames on the walls will float over to his body and
burns his remains to ash. A small vial on a thin silver chain will be the only thing to
remain in his ashes. (This is​ The Soul Vial​ item, whose description can be found in the
Appendix.) The doorway to the next room is unlocked. The doorway mimics the entrance

21
 to the hall that the party is in now. (DM Note: Demi’Rova’s Phylactery is the Altar of
Resurrection in the center of the Hall.)
The Altar in the center of the hall gives off an immense amount of a necromantic
magical aura. The Altar functions as a place of power. When using the Altar, you can
ignore all spell component requirements for resurrection and necromantic spells, such as
Raise Dead ​or​ Clone. T ​ he Altar is built into the crypt, and any attempts to remove the
altar from this place would cause the magic imbued into the Altar to cease functioning.
42. Demi’Rova’s Chambers ​- The room behind his throne is closed off with two doors.
When you enter, you find two beds in the room. One is quite large and covered in a
white veil. The other is small and covered in small dolls and toys. In the corner of the
room there is a desk, upon which sits a box. Inside the box, is the​ Horn of the Ancient
Mariner​, as well as ​1d6​ x 300 platinum pieces.

22
APPENDIX:

Monsters:
J’Nai -
Lair Actions:​ ​On initiative 20, if J’Nai is in his Undead Firbolg state, the leaves on the trees
around him begin to fly towards him and cover him in a thick wooden bark as the leaves turn
hard. J’Nai gains an additional 2AC. This effect occurs each turn, as long as there are leaves on
the trees around him.

J’Nai (Undead Firbolg)

Medium(Undead), Chaotic Neutral 

Armor Class ​16 

Hit Points​ 130 (20d8 + 40) 
Speed 2​ 0 ft. 

STR  DEX  CON  INT  WIS  CHA 

15 (+2)  18 (+4)  14 (+2)  14 (+2)  20 (+5)  8 (-1) 

Saving Throws ​Con +8, Int +8, Wis +11 

Skills I​ nsight +11 
Senses p ​ assive Perception 20 
Languages C ​ ommon, Druidic, Goblin 
Challenge ​16 (12,000 XP) 

Innate Spellcasting. ​The c​ reature ​’s innate spellcasting ability is 

Wisdom. It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no 
components: 
 
At will: P​ lant Growth 
3​/d
​ ay each: Blight, Dominate Beast 
1​/d​ ay each: ​Wall of Thorns 
 
Spellcasting. T ​ he ​creature i​ s a 9th level spellcaster (spell save DC 16, +7 
to hit with spell attacks). The c​ reature h ​ as the following spells prepared: 
 
Cantrips (at will): f​ irebolt 
1st level (4 slots): A ​ nimal Friendship, Detect Magic 
2nd level (4 slots): B ​ arkskin*, Moonbeam, Spike Growth 
3rd level (3 slots): D ​ ispel Magic, Protection From Energy 
4th level (3 slots): Giant Insect, Polymorph 
5th level (2 slots): Antilife Shell, Insect Plague 
6th level (2 slots): Sunbeam** 
7th level (1 slots): Regenerate 
8th level (1 slots): Sunburst** 
9th level (1 slots): Foresight 
 
*The ​creature h​ as a permanent version of this spell already cast on it 
before combat begins. 
**These spells function as necromantic spells. The radiant damage of the 
spell is replaced by necrotic damage, and the light descriptors of the spell 

23
 are replaced by intense darkness. All other effects remain the same.  
 
Shapechange. J​ ’Nai can transform into his Undead Grizzly Bear form 
1/day.  
 

A
​ ​CTIONS 
Multiattack. ​The c​ reature ​makes one attack with its weapon. 
 
Gnarled Staff. ​Melee Weapon Attack: + ​ 8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. ​Hit: 
(1d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

J’Nai (Undead Grizzly Bear)

Large(Undead), Chaotic Neutral 

Armor Class ​15 

Hit Points​ 210 (20d10 + 100) 
Speed 3​ 0 ft. 

STR  DEX  CON  INT  WIS  CHA 

22 (+6)  10 (+2)  20 (+5)  4 (+-3)  8 (-1)  8 (-1) 

Saving Throws ​Str+12, Dex+8, Con +11 

Skills A
​ thletics+12, Intimidate + 5 
Senses p ​ assive Perception 15 

Magical Mauling. ​Attacks made by this c​ reature​ are considered magical. 

A
​ ​CTIONS 
Multiattack. ​The c​ reature ​makes three attacks, one with its bite, and two 
with its claws.  
 
Bite. M
​ elee Attack: ​+12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. H
​ it:​ (2d8 + 6) 
piercing damage. 
 
Claw. ​Melee Attack: + ​ 12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. H
​ it:​ (2d6 + 6) 
slashing damage. 

24
Zad -
 

Zad
Large(Undead), Chaotic Evil 

Armor Class ​12 

Hit Points​ 150 (10d20 + 40) 
Speed 6​ 0 ft. 

STR  DEX  CON  INT  WIS  CHA 

24 (+7)  14(+2)  14 (+2)  6 (-2)  6 (-2)  6 (-2) 

Saving Throws ​Str+13, Dex+8, Con +8 

Skills A
​ thletics+13, Perception+12 
Senses p ​ assive Perception 22 
Languages n ​ one 
Challenge ​12 (8,000 XP) 

Zad’s Rush. ​Zad tilts his head down and brings his horns up. Zad begins 
charging and does not stop until he hits the stone wall on the end of his 
hallway. This is a line attack. The line is 10ft wide, and can only be used 
in the mud filled hallway that Zad defends. Zad can move the entire 
length of the hallway in one attack, and hits every target along the way 
with his horns and trampling hooves. Zad makes a Gore attack on 
everyone in the path of the line. 
 
Rushing Bull. Z​ ad is unaffected by difficult terrain.  
 

A
​ ​CTIONS 
Multiattack. ​The c​ reature ​makes three attacks, one with its horns, and two 
with its maul. 
 
Gore. ​Melee Attack: ​+13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. ​Hit:​ (2d12 + 14) 
piercing damage, and the target is considered restrained. Creatures 
restrained by this attack are stuck to Zad’s Horns until freed and do not 
impede Zad’s movement or attacking ability. 
 
Horns. M ​ elee Weapon Attack: ​+11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. H ​ it:​ (1d10 
+ 7) piercing damage. 
 
Maul. ​Melee Weapon Attack: + ​ 13 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. H​ it:​ (2d6 + 
7) slashing damage. 

25
Items:
All-Or-Nothing Coin:

Amulet of Planar Travel:

26
The Soul Vial:

Horn of the Ancient Mariner:

Maps:
Printouts of the Maps at full size can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mH9r-xGBCG3Ct9UspFA2uP-EjPIZNgcT?usp=sharing

27
Basement floor 1.

28
Basement Floor 2.

29
Basement Floor 3.

30
Basement Floor 4.

31
I own no rights to this module, nor that of the game Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition by
Wizards of the Coast. All rights are reserved for their amazing team and company. This module
is entirely for fun and designed to be used by anyone who would like to do so.

This module is a compilation of my own designs and interesting traps/items that I have heard of
online or through discussion with others over the years. I again own none of the rights to
anything in this module. I have written it, and just want others to enjoy my work!

If you use this module in online media, please consider crediting me - Rybonator - and linking to
my youtube channel - ​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiocf36TFwHWWtyfajz6Aqg

If you end up running this module with your group, please share your experience with me! My
email is ​[email protected]​.

A huge thank you to my friend and grave cleric Taylor for checking for typos and fixing my
horrible understanding of the English language. She rocks.

This module requires the Monster Manual by Wizards of the Coast to be enjoyed properly.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. May your rolls be ever critical.

32