Welcome Adventurers:

T
his will be a one shot taking place in the
fictional lands of The Burning Sands. The
setting is 100% Home Brew and has zero
affliation to any D&D lands.
The Story:
Your party has just finished
delivering a package to the
local magic shop owner
named Gage (Halfling Male)
located in the town of
Brissbee in the Burning
Sands Region. While you are
talking to the local merchant
a Young Brass Dragon flies
into the field opposite the
shop. The shopkeeper
excuses himself and walks
over to the Dragon.
The conversation:
If the party tries to listen in on the
conversation the shopkeep and the dragon
will let them. They don't need to be sneaky,
but if they want to be, pretend it's a really
high perception number.

Barnaby: Hello Gage. Have you seen them today?

Gage: No Buddy I'm sorry. I have not seen them.

(Banaby sighs)

Banaby: Ok. Thank you. You will let me know if they

come back right?
Gage: The second they come back.
Barnaby: Ok. Thank you Gage.

(Barnaby files away)

If the party asks about what just happened

Gage will tell them the following.

Barnaby was orphaned when he was younger.

Barnaby was kind of adopted byt the town and Barnaby
protects the town.
Barnaby won't leave because he's afraid that something
bad will happen if he leaves.
Barnaby loves to hear about the travels of others.
About 4 years ago a adventuring party came through
and Barnaby like always wanted to hear all about their
adventures.
Barnaby spent time with them protecting them in the
desert.
The party told him that they were coming back and
wanted him to have a party ready for their return.
Barnaby was so excited he spent half of his money
(which was quite a lot) to make it huge.
He was told they would come back in 4 moons time.
When they didn't show the town tried to have the party
with Barnaby, but he says he has to wait until they
come back.
Everyday he files in to see if anyone has seen them.
I'm pretty sure IF we DID see them, the entire town will
kick their asses.
In fact there is a huge reward for the ones who find the
party and make them pay, or come back.
 The Inn Keeper (Assimar Female) will tell them that
Options: she is about to take Barnaby's favorite ale out to him
and asks if the party wants to join her.
The party can talk to the other towns people. The rest
of the town will say pretty much the same thing as the The local town drunk (Dwarf Male) (Found in the
shopkeep. With the exception of the following: tavern) will tell them that he knows exactly where the
party is and will help them find the party if they provide
The weapons shop owner (Human Female) says she
ale for the trip. The party can bring him along (stats on
saw the original party about 3 years ago in the city of
the last page) or they can buy him a bunch of ale and
Alabaz across the Burning Sands to the West. When she
he will give them the starting point of Quinutis city
got closer she yelled to them about coming back for
North East of the burning sands. If the party goes alone,
Barnaby, but the Bard laughed at her and they they are to seek out the city guard captian Quinten. If
vanished.
the dwarf (Rollo) comes with them, he will take them
The potion shop keeper (Tiefling Non-Binary) will say right to him.
that they saw the party about 2 years ago in a Tavern
on the ajacent Continant. When they approched the
party and asked about coming back for Barnaby, one of
the party members said they should and that they feel
bad, but was overruled.

The mayor (Goliath Male) will tell them that he

normally goes out to see Barnaby around this time to
sit and talk to him so he's not so lonely, but he needs to
take care of an emergency and asks if they can go talk
to Barnaby instead.

Story Branches:
The party can go several ways now.
Option 1: The party goes to see Barnaby
either for the Mayor or with the Inn Keeper or
both. If Rollo is with you he will keep trying
to sneak a drink of the ale for Barnaby if you
have any with you claiming it the best ale.
Perception check of 13 or higher to notice. If
the party sees Barnaby read below. If the
Party heads to the last known location of the
party, go to the next page.
Barnaby:
When the party nears Barnaby's place they will notice a
HUGE banner with a sign saying "Welcome back" It is in
tatters and very faded. They will also see multiple tables
with gifts wrapped in what used to be very colorful paper
that now looks almost white. There is a single table that is
raised onto a platform with 6 chairs and name tags with
no names left on them. Sitting in the middle of the area is
a Young Brass Dragon, curled up with his head resting on
his tail. He doesn't open a eye but says aloud as the party
approches.
Barnaby will welcome the party to sit down and rest. He
will ask them all about themselves. He is most
interested in:
Thier names
Their adventures
What brought them to this land
If they have ever seen the olod party in their
travels (It is up the DM to create the old party as NPC's
but one must be a Bard and one a Wizard) The DM will
describe the old party as told by Barnaby)
Barnaby will insist that the party WILL be
coming back, it's just taking them a lot
longer. He knows in his heart they will come
back one day, he just has to be patient. He
can only imagine what kind of adventures
they will be able to tell him about after all
this time.
If the party says they will go look for them, he
tells them that others in the town have seen
them and tells them to talk to the ones listed
in the previous page. He tells them to be
careful and asks if they find the old party to
please not hurt them. He knows people are
mad at them, but they are still his friends.

Hi Mayor

If you are with the shopkeeper she will If the party goes to talk to the towns people,
respond It's me Shiela and Iv'e brought see page above. If they go in search of the
company party, go to next page. If Rollo is with them,
he suggests they start in Quintus.

If you are with Rollo, but no shop keep he will

respond No Laddie. It's me Rollo and I got
some people with me

If you are alone any member of the party can

respond.

Upon hearing any response Barnaby will quickly raise

his head and look for the people he has been waiting
for. When he realizes it's not them he will have a
moment of sadness, but will quickly recover.

Barnaby: Hello friends. I was expecting someone else,

but I'm always happy to meet new people. (Only spoken
if the party is with Rollo or Shiela) Nice to see you
Rollo/Shiela/Both of them.

Barnaby will thank the inn keeper for the ale if

she brought it
The Burning Sands:
The Burning Sands is a very large Desert. It
takes 12 successful DC13 (each roll represents
1 day) survival checks to get to Quintis. If Rollo
is with you, you get advantage on the rolls.
To get to Alabaz it takes 9 successful survival
checks. Once there they nobody has any
knowledge of the old party. It's 5 days from
there to Quintis.
A failed survival check requires 2 successful
ones to get back on track.
Onky:
If you wish to make water consumption a
Onky is the leader of the adventures guild. She is a Half-Elf
trackable item, each party member consumes
Wizard. She wears long Purple Robes and dies her hair
1 water skin per day while in the Burning
Red.
sands.
For random encounters it is suggested to use
Xanathars random encounter table for desert
region. It is up to the DM how to handle it, or
if at all. Suggestion is 1 Survival Check and 2
Random Encounter rolls per day.
Quintis:
Quintis is a very large city on the edge of the
Burning Sands, under the Shadow of a large
Mountian Range. If Rollo is with the party he will
take the party directly to see the Captain. If he is
NOT with them, asking around will inform them
that the Captain can always be found in the
Barracks near the main enterence to the city.
(The layout of the city is up to the discretion of
the DM, but should include major shops and at
least 2 Inn's as well as a "Red Light District" The
shops are selling items at 1.25% of the price in
the books.)
Captain Quinten:
Captain Quinten is a Goliath Fighter Class. He has a
Longsoword and wears Full Plate Armor with the city
crest on the chest. (A Mountian with a waterfall).
When asked about the old party he will reveal the
following info.
They were last seen a little over a year ago
The last people to see them were the adventures
guild located on the outskirts of town.
The leader of the guild is a woman named
"Onky."
If they find them, they still owe the owner of the
"Blossoming Flower" the main Brothel 100
Platinum.
The owner has offered a 50 Platinum reward
When asked about the party she gives the following
info.
They were hired to track down a missing guild
member and bring them back.
They killed the guild member and fled.
They also stole a stone that belongs to her that
the member was carrying.
Her spies have reported they were seen near the
"Caves of Time" on the other side of the world.
She can transport them to a location about a day
away from the caves, but they have to bring a
member of the guild with them.
Once the party has finished with their business
with the old party, they are to hand them off to
the guild member to be brought back here.
Suggested Guild Member Options: Halfling
Cleric, Half Orc Barbarian, or Gnome Rouge
(DM can tweak subclasses and stats to fit
party needs).
Caves of Time:
The caves of time are on the other side of the
world, so if the party chooses not to be
transported, it will take several months. The
DM can handle that anyway they choose. The
party can hire an air ship for 100 gold to take
them which is located in the city.
If transported the party ends up in the "City of
Time" so named because of the unstable time
vortexes. (More about them Time Vortexes in the
back)
The party finds themselves in a large chamber
with no windows. A old lady comes in after they
arrive and tells them that Onky sent word ahead
and she will show them the way to the caves
If they find alternate transportation they will
have to ask around on how to get to the cave.
Only the old lady will know (Other town people
will suggest they talk to the wierd old lady in the
tower).
Once in the caves, they will find the old party
fighting a Primordial Elemental in the 3rd level
of the cave system. (The layout of the cave
system is up to the DM making it as little or
big as they want. As well as the creatures
inside. Suggested monsters however are at
least some Phase Spiders) The party can
either help fight the elemental or wait. If they
wait, the old party will die and the elemental
will disappear. When they get near to the old
party they will vanish into dust. A few
moments later they will hear people coming
into the large room. If they wait to see who it
is, they will see the old party coming into the
room and the old party will notice them. If
they hide, they will see the party, but the old
party will not be aware of their presence.
Here there are 3 main options for hiding.
Option 1: The party can continue to watch. if
they do this, they see the old party come in,
the wizard channel a spell and the elemental
is summoned, they fight and die.
Option 2: (1st time) The party can revel
themselves and explain why they are there.
The Wizard explains they don't have time for
this silly nonsense and says they are on a
timeline. He channels the spell and summons
the elemental. If the party chooses to help the
old party, they defeat the Elemental. IF this
happens the old party turns to dust and a few
moments later they reappear in the cave
enterence again.
Option 3 (1st time) The party revels
themselves and attacks the old party. If this
happens the old party will fight the current
party while thier wizard summons the
elemental. The elemenatal will either kill the
old party (It only attacks them with a singular
focus) or the group defeats the elemental,
and then the old party disappears and a few
moments later starts at the cave.
The party never hides: If the party never
hides or if they never wait in the beginning
follow the events of the elemenatl being
defeated or the party dying.
Anyone who notices this loop can make an
arcana check DC20 to realize that the old
party is caught by a time loop. (Each pass of
the loop reduces the DC by 2). Once they
realize they are in a time loop they can make
an arcana or staight WIS check DC15 to figure
out that in order to stop the loop, the wizard
can't summon the elemental.
The old party will insist they must and it will
take a DC25 Persuation check to convince
them not to. If they cannot convince them the
wizard will start the spell while the rest of the
party fights. It takes the Wizard 2 rounds of
combat to cast the spell.
Option 1: The Party leaves
them
At this point the party has the option of letting the
old party be stuck in this loop for all eternity.
If the party leaves the old party to fight and
die for eternity they can go back to the town
and inform the old lady what happened. She
will transport them back to The Adventure
Guild headquarters. Once there if they tell
Onky what happened she will feel it's a fitting
punishment for them and offer to transport
them back to where Barnaby is.
Once back to Barnaby they can tell Barnaby
whatever they choose.
If they tell him they old party is never coming back
because they all died as hero's he will be sad and throw
a party in their honor. When it's over he will be happy
again.
If they tell him what really happened he will
immediatley take off to find and save them. if that
happens the townspeople will become hostile and
demand the party leaves. If this happens the final
note of the one shot is that the party hears that
several months after Barnaby left, a band of
Raiders destroyed the town and killed everyone.
Barnaby was never seen again.
They can tell Barnaby that they never found the party. If
this happens Barnaby will be sad and the final note of
the one shot will say Barnaby never gave up on his
friends. After 100 years Barnaby just left the
town one day. There is a legend of a lone Brass
Dragon who lives around the Burning Sands. He
shows up and watches people from afar. Legend
tells it that his heart was broken centuries ago
and he never wants to be hurt like that again.
Option 2: The party "saves"
the old party:
If the party can either convince the old party
to not cast the spell, or they stop the wizard, a
few moments later the old party will grab
thier heads and fall down to the ground. After
a few moments the Wizard will pull a devise
out of his pocket and say "What just
happened? How did we jump a year in time?
Where is the Elemental? Are we safe?
The party can explain what just happened.
The Wizard will listen to everything and
deduce they were tricked by the person who
hired them. Just then a man will step out of
the shadows. He is dressed all in black. He is a
human about 70 years old. He speaks to the
new party.
Now, now. You've spoiled all my fun. These
assholes were supposed to suffer for all of
eternity. Now I suppose I will have to get my
hands dirty and just end their lives here and
now. Pity, I liked eternal torment better.
The Wizard will focus on attacking the old
party. If the new party intervines, he will
attack them back, but his primary focus will
be the old party. (His suggested stats are in
the back) Depending on if the party helps or
not will determine the next part.
Wizard is defeated:
If the party helped the old party with the fight
they will automatically agree to come back
with them and visit Barnaby and to return the
stone to Onky and pay the Brothel owner.
If the party does NOT help, they will have to
make a successful DC20 Persuation Check in
order to convince them to come back for
Barnaby, but just say "We will see" about
Onky and the Brothel. If they cannot convince
them to come back, the Adventure Guild
member will throw a stone on the ground and
the old party will vanish. They will explain that
they are now trapped in a pocket dimension
and will only be released to be exacuted. They
will then speak a few words and the stone will
vanish. If asked it was sent back to the Guild
Hall. They will then offer to take them back to
the Guild Hall. If they don't have a guild
member with them, same thing happens,
but the guild member will pop in, throw the
stone and pop out with no information. If
they ask the old lady she will explain about
the exacution
Onky will tell the party that as far as anyone will
know the party died in that cave. They will never
be seen again If this happens. Substitute the
Cave for The Guild Hall when talking to Barnaby.
Barnaby will attack the guild hall and then be
hunted keeping him away from the town. Same
ending
Barnaby's Party:
If the old party comes back with you Barnaby
will be overjoyed and keep saying I knew you
would be back. I told everyone you would. I
have everything ready He will wave a hand
and all the faded items are bright and shiny
again. Barnaby will fly over the town and
shout They are here. They're here. The town
folk will come see for themselves and start
lugging food and drink to the party.

As news of the old party's return spreads and the

celebration to come, more and more adventurers
who have met Barnaby and searched and failed
to find the old party show up.
Other dragons from around the world hear of
Barnaby's party and arrive. Some in full form,
some in human form.
The party continues for a long long time and the
longer it goes, the more people arrive.
By the end there are thousands of people from
all over the realms who come and join in
Barnaby's celebration
The Old party is given a lot of grief and nasty
comments from the party attendies, especially
at first, but as everyone sees how happy having
them here makes Barnaby, eventually all is
forgiven.

Epiolouge:
The party thrown by Barnaby for his friends both
old and new went down in the history books as the
only time all nations, all tribes, all races came
together in celebration. Legend has it that the
party lasted several weeks, other sources say it
lasted months. The one thing all accounts agree
upon is that during the time of the party, there was
no war, no hostilities anywhere in the realms. Some
even say the Blood War stopped for a time
(although this account was proven false). No one
will forget however, the Brass Dragon named
Barnaby, who just wanted to have a party for his
friends.

Notes to DM's
This one shot is very open for you to make it as involved as
you want it to. Everyone has different playstyles so I have
left a lot up to you as the DM to tailor to fit your groups
playstyles. This is just a very basic guide, and feel free to
change anything you wish. Monsters, NPC's and terrain is
all up to you to flesh out. The following are just
suggestions on how to handle such things as the time
vortexes and combat with the elemental and End Wizard.
The monsters/bad guys attacks are focused
mostly on the old party, but if attacking the new
party reduce damage by 30-40%.
The old party does 1/2 max damage on all
attacks no need to roll. Roll 1d6 at the start of
the round. Whatever the roll is 1/2 it and that is
how many party members are able to hit the
monster/bad guy. (Example. Roll 1d6 and roll a 6.
3 old party members hit. a 5 would be 2. 4 also 2.
1,2,3 as normal.) give the old party members
basic attacks and spells and keep it simple.

Time Vortexes: These are pockets of chaotic
time magic. If hit with one of these vortexes
tme moves forward or backward in a jump. It
is up to the DM how you want to randomize it
and the effects. The suggestions are:
A D12 roll. 11 or 12 the party gets hit by a vortex
If hit by a vortex, the party members age or de-
age by 1d4 years. This also affects equipment, so
meat will rot or disappear, metal will rust etc.
If hit by 3 vortexes in a row the party will be
stunned for 1d6 hours
If hit by 3 more after that (6 in a row) the party
will be stunned for 1d6 days.
3 more is 1d6 weeks (Con saving throw of 12 or
higher to not starve to death)
3 more 1d6 years (dead)
Again these are suggestions, feel free to change or
remove these effects.
Primordial Elemental.
I imagine this creature to be a combonation of
all 4 elementals found in the MM into 1 creature.
It should be a very hard fight and next to
impossible to kill.
Same when/if they fight the new party, simple
attacks/spells
Player Levels Suggested:
This adventure can be done at any level, but optimal
would be levels 4-6.
The NPC's that can accompany the adventuresrs are
there to plug and major holes in party formation. They
are only suggestions. feel free to make them whatever.
The Locations:
I have left these very vauge for a reason. Only you know
what your players like. Make the caves as simple or as
complicated as you like. Same with the locations, have fun.
Final Note:
In this one shot Critical successes and failures on
skill checks are factored in. If that is not something
you allow at your table, feel free to adjust the DC
checks. This should be fun above all else. If
anything in here makes it no longer fun, or if
anything might be a trigger for any of your players,
throw it out. Barnaby just wants everyone to enjoy
themselves.

Evil Wizard

I imagine him to be at least a lvl 18 Wizard. He

should be a tough fight, but not impossible. If
the party is higher than lvl 5 (see party levels) he
should summon some help. He should have a
singular focus on the old party and if he kills the
old party he will just vanish)

Combat when fighting with old Party

When fighting with the old party, instead of

having to control all those NPC's I suggest the
following
Rollo:
Rollo can be whatever you want him to be,
but he was written to be the following:

Dwarf Male
Fighter Class
Battlemaster Sublass
Carries a Battle Axe +2
Level 6
Armor Padded Armor
(Which skills and abilities are up to DM)

Rollo's Basic Story: Rollo was a former

adventuer who lost his entire party in a ill
advised attempt to fight a powerful Lich. He
crawled into a bottle and never returned. He
ended up at the town (where the party found
him) a few years ago. He felt a sad kinship
with Barnaby so he stayed.