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The Mage Tower

A One-Shot Adventure
by Jeremy Fair
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Compatible with Characters Levels 1-20


THE MAGE TOWER
A O NE -S HOT INSERT TO ENHANCE YOUR CAMPAIGN

A massive stone spire erupts from the mountainside and twists into the sky. A
rickety, old tower sits at the edge of town; abandoned for ages and rumored to be
haunted. An ancient, long-forgotten monolith, standing proudly in the rubbled
remains of an otherwise decimated settlement.

Whatever the situation calls for, The Mage Tower is just what you need. The Mage
Tower is a 10-floor puzzle and combat dungeon crawler. Insert this one-shot
adventure into your own campaign and find out if your players have what it takes to
survive The Mage Tower!

This One-Shot is designed for characters of any level!

WRITTEN BY JEREMY FAIR

THIS ADVENTURE CONTAINS TWISTED TOWERS, CURSED CORRIDORS,


AND PERPLEXING PUZZLES. THIS AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR
ANY LOST MINDS, SUDDEN DEATHS, OR UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, FORGOTTEN REALMS, THE DRAGON AMPERSAND, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK,
MONSTER MANUAL, DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE, D&D ADVENTURERS LEAGUE, ALL OTHER WIZARDS OF THE COAST PRODUCT NAMES, AND
THEIR RESPECTIVE LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST IN THE USA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. ALL CHARACTERS AND
THEIR DISTINCTIVE LIKENESSES ARE PROPERTY OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST. THIS MATERIAL IS PROTECTED UNDER THE COPYRIGHT
LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ANY REPRODUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE MATERIAL OR ARTWORK CONTAINED
HEREIN IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST.

COPYRIGHT 2016 WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC, PO BOX 707, RENTON, WA 98057-0707, USA. MANUFACTURED BY HASBRO SA,
RUE EMILE-BOÉCHAT 31, 2800 DELÉMONT, CH. REPRESENTED BY HASBRO EUROPE, 4 THE SQUARE, STOCKLEY PARK, UXBRIDGE,
MIDDLESEX, UB11 1ET, UK.

ALL OTHER ORIGINAL MATERIAL IN THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHT 2019 BY JEREMY FAIR AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE COMMUNITY CONTENT
AGREEMENT FOR DUNGEON MASTERS GUILD.

NOT FOR RESALE. PERMISSION GRANTED TO PRINT OR PHOTOCOPY THIS COMPLETE DOCUMENT FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................. 3

Chapter 1: Running this Adventure ...........................4


Using The Mage Tower in your campaign...............4
A Note About The Observatory ................................4
Challenge Rating Scaling ............................................5
General Tower Rules and Features ...........................5
Sample Adventure Hooks ..........................................5

Chapter 2: The Mage Tower .................................... 6


Outside The Mage Tower..........................................6
Ground Floor .............................................................7
2nd Floor ....................................................................8
3rd Floor .....................................................................9
4th Floor ...................................................................10
5th Floor ...................................................................13
6th Floor ...................................................................13
7th Floor ...................................................................15
8th Floor ...................................................................15
9th Floor ...................................................................17
10th Floor .................................................................21
Victory!......................................................................23

Chapter 3: The Observatory .................................. 24


The Door of Many Places ........................................25

Appendix A: Monsters...........................................26
Credits......................................................................27

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INTRODUCTION
The ancient, stone mage tower sat at the edge of
town, abandoned, and eroding with time. The
weathered spire reached high into the sky, with
its twisted, sinister form silhouetted ominously
against the dimly lit horizon. An eerie fog
seemed to constantly permeate around the
tower’s wooded surroundings; its obscured base
impossible to identify from any sort of distance.
It was not an exceptionally large tower, albeit
extremely tall. Its narrow base hardly covered
even 15 square feet, while the spindly column
climbed at least 120 feet into the air. The place
was creepy to say the least. It was not hard to
understand why the local townsfolk tended to
keep their distance. Something about that tower
just didn’t seem normal.

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CHAPTER 1: RUNNING THIS ADVENTURE
A NOTE ABOUT OBSERVATORY
USING THE MAGE TOWER THE

IN YOUR CAMPAIGN
Though The Mage Tower consists of ten floors
worth of challenges, there is actually an 11th floor at
the top that can serve as quite an amazing prize for
The Mage Tower is a one-shot add-on that DMs your players-depending on how you want to run
can use to enhance their existing campaigns and your game. This room is entirely optional and does
help to better flesh-out their narratives. This even need to exist if you feel that it would not fit
adventure is designed to accommodate player your campaign.
characters of any level. As the players make their
way up through each floor of the tower, suggestions The top, 11th floor of The Mage Tower is a
are provided (if needed) to help make each massive, magical Observatory from which the
challenge more or less difficult to best inhabitants can make astrological observations both
accommodate your players, no matter what stage of close and far. This room serves not only as an
their Dungeons and Dragons journey they are on. observational chamber, but it is also the control-hub
of The Mage Tower’s greatest feature: The Door of
Many Places. As the tower is built within an
The general concept of this adventure concerns the interdimensional space, its connection to the world
existence of a seemingly abandoned and rather transcends the normal rules of space and physics.
creepy mage tower that can be inserted into your The Door of Many Places can be registered to any
adventure anywhere that you need it to be. The ten doors in the galaxy- or even to other dimensions
tower can be at the edge of town, deep in the forest, and planes of existence if you so choose! When a
or on top of a tall mountain peak. Perhaps it is on a user goes through the door, they come out the other
tropical island, or even smack-dab in the middle of end at the registered location that they chose to
Waterdeep: The City of Splendors. This module can travel to. How many locations are registered, and
fit any sort of story that you need it to fit. All how they become registered, is entirely up to you.
creatures within this module can be found in the You could run a whole campaign by having pre-
Monster Manual or Appendix A (pg.26) of this registered locations already here that the players
module. begin to explore. Likewise, you could have a whole
The Mage Tower can take on any appearance that campaign centered around the players trying to
you desire, though it is intended that it appears to be register the other 9 towers to the door.
very narrow at the base, and yet extremely tall The limits, freedoms, or use of this device at all, are
(about 120 feet). This is only to make the tower entirely up to you as the DM. I personally like to
appear all the odder and more curious to your have it link up with other towers around the
players. Though the outside looks small, the inside Forgotten Realms so that my players can return
is massive. This mage tower is built within an extra- back to the observatory and use it as their home-
dimensional space, and each of the ten floors may base; this lets them feel like they have a stake in the
vary in size from 15 square feet to 300+ square feet. world. Plus, my players just think it’s awesome that
It is a magical tower after all. they get to be the commanders of a magical plane-
shifting mage tower. I let them make some sort of
command word that allows them to teleport from
The Ground Floor to The Observatory once they
have already defeated all 10 floors of the tower.

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For more information, see: loses its magic abilities. If this happens, it begins to
crumble and collapse.
Chapter 3: The Observatory. (pg.24)

CHALLENGE RATING SCALING SAMPLE ADVENTURE HOOKS.

One of the benefits of this adventure is that it can The Plight of the Blight Thief: If you are playing
be fit into any campaign regardless of what level through my larger campaign, The Plight of the
your party’s characters are. The way that this is Blight Thief (only available on DMs Guild) you can
done is through Challenge Rating Scaling. As very easily use this enhanced mage tower module in
written, each scenario is designed for a group of place of the smaller mage tower side quest already
adventurers ranging from levels 3-5. As you read featured within that adventure.
through and run the scenarios for each floor of the Just Trying to Stay Dry: Your adventuring party
tower, optional instructions will be provided so that has been traveling for some time through the
you may increase or decrease the difficulty of each wilderness and grow weary of traveling. A strong
challenge to better meet the level of your party’s storm is brewing in the sky above. In the middle of
characters (when adjustment is required.) Because the wilderness, they see a tall structure sticking out
of the nature of role-playing games, feel free to amongst the trees and head toward it in hopes of
make your own further adjustments that you think finding shelter from the storm.
would be fun for your particular group of players.
At the end of the day, you know what works best A Test of Might: Perhaps The Mage Tower is not
for your group. so ancient and abandoned after all. Your party
wishes to join some sort of group, or graduate from
a school, and The Mage Tower was created to test
GENERAL TOWER RULES AND FEATURES their abilities.

The Mage Tower is an interdimensional artifact. It A Contest of Champions: Someone built The
exists between multiple dimensions simultaneously. Mage Tower as a challenge for some sort of contest
The exterior of the tower exists on the physical or tournament. In order to win a grand prize, they
plane, taking up physical space. The interior exists must successfully defeat all ten floors of the tower.
within a sort of pocket-dimension, allowing for it to
contain much more space within, without taking up A Stranger in the Window: The Mage Tower has
more space on the physical plane. sat at the edge of the town for centuries, decaying
and being weathered away by the elements.
A player cannot use magic, abilities, or features to Everyone in the town talks about how it is best to
move between floors, teleport in and out of the stay away from the tower. The general consensus is
tower, or summon/communicate with beings on a that it is hazardous and completely abandoned. But
separate plane, while inside The Mage Tower. Any one of the party members spots someone in one of
attempt to do so simply fails to work. This does not the upper windows of the tower before they quickly
prevent Warlocks and Paladins from accessing their move back away from view.
magic. Any players who command The
Observatory is not restricted by these rules. A Hoard from the Other Side: A town is being
suddenly raided by large numbers of some sort of
evil creatures or people. They seem to be coming in
If the walls of the tower are damaged, they will consistent numbers from a nearby tower that was
begin to magically repair themselves within 1d4 thought to be abandoned. Perhaps they have
minutes. somehow gotten control of The Door of Many
Places and are coming to the tower from another
If The Observatory and The Door of Many Places portal. If you choose this option, you should stock
are somehow entirely destroyed, then its tether to the tower with additional enemies of the type you
the other dimension is severed, and the tower itself chose to be raiding the town.
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CHAPTER 2: THE MAGE TOWER
INTRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE MAGE TOWER
The Mage Tower is an interdimensional magical There appears to be a lingering fog that surrounds
tower capable of warping space. The outside of The the small base of the tall mage tower. It is so thick,
Mage Tower can look like anything that you please. that one cannot see through it from any sort of
Think about what would make your players want to distance, making the bottom portion of the tower
investigate it. It is intended to be narrow at the base obscured from onlookers. Unless you choose to
and spindly thin in shape, reaching up about 120 change it to match your campaign’s scenario
feet in height. Create your own description for the differently, the entire tower has a rather creepy vibe
tower’s outer appearance, or read the following to it. When a creature approaches within in 30 feet
description aloud to your players: of the tower, they are suddenly filled with an
overwhelming sense of dread. They must succeed
on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become feared
The ancient, stone mage tower sat at the edge of for two minutes. A creature who succeeds on this
town, abandoned, and eroding with time. The
weathered spire reached high into the sky, with its check is immune to the tower’s fear ability for 24
twisted, sinister form silhouetted ominously against hours. Any creature who has been inside The
the dimly lit horizon. An eerie fog seemed to Observatory is immune to this effect.
constantly permeate around the tower’s wooded
surroundings; its obscured base impossible to Once a character has made it through the fog and all
identify from any sort of distance. It was not an the way up to the doorway, they find that there is no
exceptionally large tower, albeit extremely tall. Its
front door to the tower, but instead just an open
narrow base hardly covered even 15 square feet
while the spindly column climbed easily 120 feet stone archway leading inside to the tower’s Ground
into the air. It was creepy to say the least. It was not Floor.
hard to understand why the local townsfolk tended
to keep their distance. Something about that tower While standing in front of the open doorway, you are
just didn’t seem normal. able to see into the bottom chamber of the tower. It
is a small room with moss covered walls that appear
to have odd symbols painted and carved into the
masonry. In its center is a small alter with a stone arm
extending from it like a gauntlet. The stone arm has
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING a hand on the end with something blue grasped
Outside The Mage Tower firmly in its fist. However, when a creature attempts
to pass through the entranceway, they will find
1-2 Decrease fear WIS save to DC 10. themselves running into an invisible barrier that feels
no different than running into a stone wall. If they
3-5 Leave at Default.
think to feel around the invisible “stone wall”, they
6-8 Increase fear WIS save to DC 14. will feel an invisible iron knocker hanging from the
center of an invisible stone door. They must knock
9-12 Increase fear WIS save to DC 15. on the invisible door three times using the knocker.
When they do this, the invisible doorway will vanish,
13-15 Increase fear WIS save to DC 16.
and the doorway will truly remain empty. The
16-20 Increase fear WIS save to DC 17. moment that all creatures exit the tower, the invisible
barrier will replace itself, and the knocker must be
used again to enter.

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GROUND FLOOR ––

You enter to find yourselves in a small, dimly lit


stone room. It is hardly even 15 square feet in size
and the low ceiling is only 7 feet in height. There are
no sconces on the walls, and the only source of light
shines in from outside, through the single, invisible
door. The stone walls are cold and overgrown with
moss, and beneath it you can see a beautiful
conglomerate of colorful, seemingly random images
and symbols painted upon the aged, stone surfaces.
In the very center of the chamber is a marbled rock
pedestal with a stone arm extending from it like a
gauntlet. The stone arm has a hand on the end with a
sizable sapphire gem grasped firmly within its fist.

A DC 12 investigation check reveals that the


seemingly random images are actually a variety of
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
repeated motifs depicting all sorts of birds, bovine
creatures, skeletal warriors, hands, the sun, the moon The Ground Floor
cycle, and pyramids-all scattered around the small
room and displayed in no apparent order. If players This floor does not have a Challenge Rating Scaling
attempt to purposely count the symbols, it can be chart because it is not intended to be especially
revealed that there are 5 of each of the images. If a difficult. This floor is designed to grab the player’s
character places their hand against one of the hand interest and be relatively straightforward. It is meant
images, doing so will cause one of the fingers on the to give them a quick feeling of success whilst also
arm statue to release its grasp on the stone. Doing so trapping them in the tower. If you do not want your
to all five images at once will release all fingers, thus players to be trapped inside the tower, feel free to
releasing the gem. allow them to come and go from the tower as they
please. Do what works for you and your players.
The moment the gem is removed, the entrance
doorway will seal with an opaque stone wall, and a 3 If you still want to increase the difficulty of this
square foot hole will instead appear in the low ceiling floor, you can make slight changes to the variables
above, allowing access to The 2nd Floor of the tower. to increase the challenge. One way to do this is to
Replacing the gem in the hand will cause the first to make the symbols only activate the gauntlet fingers
clench it once again. Doing so will cause the hole in if the symbols are prodded with some sort of
the ceiling to seal back closed and the front door will magical item or spell. You can even choose to take
once again become open. They must clamor up it a step further and require them to touch the
through the hole to advance to The 2nd Floor. symbols with fire magic or something even more
specific like silver before the fingers show a
The fist will clench anything place in its grasp, but reaction. Make it as tough as you want, but don’t
it will not affect the ceiling opening, nor the entrance frustrate your players so much that they lose interest
door. If a character outside the tower enters the door or stop having fun.
by using the knocker, it will open as previously
described, but close again once they have entered.

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2ND FLOOR
In order for the players to solve this floor’s puzzle,
You climb through the hole and up onto The 2 nd they must take the gem from The Ground Floor
floor of the mysterious tower. It is the same size as and place it in the outstretched hand of the demon
the room below, but its contents are much different. holding the triton. Doing so will cause his hands to
Though the floor and ceiling seem to be made of grip around the gem. They must now apply an
stone, the walls in this room look as if they simply appropriate element to each of the three gems in the
do not exist. The ceiling appears as if it is floating, room. Touching the red gem with fire will cause it
and instead of walls, you can see outside to the area to begin to glow. Touching the golden colored gem
surrounding the tower. with something made of gold will cause it to also
begin glowing. Touching the blue gem with water
Standing in the center of this room are three, or ice will cause it to glow as well. When all three
demonic looking winged statues. They each gems have begun to glow, the square on the ground
brandish sinister looking weapons and appear to be with the twelve-pointed star will begin to radiate
engaged in the middle of some savage battle. Behind with a bright white light. Stepping onto the square
the three statues is a stone image - about 3 square teleports the creature to The Third Floor.
feet in size - of a 12-pointed star carved into the
floor. CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
This floor does not require a Challenge Rating
Scaling chart because this particular puzzle is more
If players examined the statues more closely, provide reliant on each player’s ability to solve the puzzle,
the following description: as opposed to their character’s ability to
successfully make ability checks.

One of the demons is depicted with a long snout and Characters of any level should almost always have
two backward curving horns. In its left hand it is access to the elements required for this puzzle:
clasping a brilliant, gold colored gem, and in its right, water, fire, and gold. Characters can use magical
the demon is brandishing a large, spiked flail.
fire, flint, and steel kits, or even try to create a spark
Depicted as rushing toward the first demon is a by clanging metal weapons together.
second statue of a bald-headed creature with a single
eye and a massive, wide open mouth with deadly
As for water, one can assume that characters are
looking fangs. In its left hand it holds a bright
regularly gathering water in their waterskins even if
orange and red colored ruby and is shown to be
they do not expressly say so. It is suggested to
posed in mid strike with a sword made of glowing
reward your players creativity for figuring out the
flame, gripped firmly in its right.
puzzle instead of throwing up roadblocks for things
like whether or not they said they refilled their
The third statue shows yet another demon, waterskins last session.
though this one appears to have three eyes and a
single jagged horn protruding from the center of its If you desire to increase the difficulty and turn this
forehead. Its left hand is outstretched and empty, but
puzzle into a combat threat, you could have the
it holds a triple-forked triton in its right hand that it is
aimed toward the one-eyed demon’s head. three statues come to life in response to some sort of
action a character takes. They could take the form
of 3 Imps for a medium combat challenge, or 3
Barbed Devils for a difficult combat challenge.

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3RD FLOOR If a player investigates the ceiling of the room, they
will notice some sort of writing scribbled across it in
an odd script: TNEMHSIRUON. A DC 14 investigation
You appear in a very odd place, standing on check reveals that it is written in common but has
a glowing platform that is identical to the one you been written backwards as if in a mirror. It spells the
stepped on to teleport here. The room you are word: NOURISHMENT.
standing in is about twice as large as the two smaller
rooms you have been so far, and certainly none the
less strange. Immediately you find that the air in this
room is extremely hot. It is well over a hundred
degrees and even trying to breathe seems suddenly
laborious. The floor of this room is completely
covered in fresh green grass, complete with
flourishing flowers and even some weeds. The walls
around the room depict a horrifyingly realistic
hellscape with a black night sky, bursting volcanos,
dancing pillars of flame, and gigantic skeletal
creatures skulking about in the distance. The scenes
on the walls are lifelike and moving. It almost seems
as if you are peering out into some other, terrible
world.

Though they do not know it, this floor of The Mage


Tower exists within the Elemental Plane of Fire. This
is of little consequence but could be used as a
powerful plot device depending on your campaign.
Give your players a moment to explore the room and
investigate the walls. After a few moments, read the
following aloud:

You suddenly spot something on the wall moving


very quickly toward you. Some sort of black and
orange thing is charging directly at you. As it gets
closer, you realize that is a very large, demonic
looking horse with black skin and glowing red eyes;
It has horrendous smoking flames spewing from its
neck in a fiery, burning mane. It looks as if it might
come crashing right through the wall, but suddenly
stops, rearing back and kicking its front legs
violently. Black smoke billows off of its hooves as it Any sort of interaction with the horse appears to be
stomps them against the walls with obvious harmful impossible other than the fact that it seems to be both
intent. aware and upset at their presence. If the players
After realizing that there is some sort of barrier attempt to touch the walls, it feels like solid stone but
between the party and itself, the fiery horse-beasts is very warm. The only way to solve the puzzle in
begins to chort and neigh angrily, snorting and this room is to give the horse food. If a player
huffing deep, dark plumes of smoke from its nostrils. character pulls out food for any reason, the horse
It suddenly begins rapidly dashing in circles, immediately begins to relax its wild behavior, and
sprinting around the walls of the room maniacally.
begins to neigh wantingly. A DC 15 Animal
Handling check can confirm that the horse just wants
food. If a player touches any item, including food, to
any of the walls, it will instantly pass through to the
other side. Nothing living can pass through, however.
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The horse will rush over and try to eat whatever items 4TH FLOOR
are tossed out onto the other side. If the horse is
successfully fed, the nightmarish scene around them
will begin to crumble, and the living hellscape will
begin to brighten up. The ground will sprout fresh As you open the heavy black door, you are,
flowery plant life, and from behind a distant volcano quite contrastingly, greeted by a sudden gust of
will appear a bright and hopeful sun. The skeletal very cold wind. In fact, the arctic howl of the
kaiju-like creatures will begin to crumble and perish, wind is so strong, that it takes effort to keep the
and beautiful trees and other plant life will burst forth door from being flung open by the icy gale. The
from the ground in their place. The flames of the room is decidedly larger than any of the
horse will extinguish, and its black, charred skin will previous rooms, appearing to be about eighty
begin to drip away like toxic goo, instead square feet in size. The walls, ceiling, and floor
transforming into a gorgeous unicorn. The dark scene are all made of giant stone blocks, all of which
will change into an Eden-like garden, and all things are coated in a thick layer of frost and ice.
foul will become holy and full of life. It is only then
that a solid black door will materialize on the wall
furthest from the teleportation square. The door has
a bright red doorknob fashioned to resemble a
dragon’s head. Passing through this door will bring
the party to The 4th Floor. After all of the players have fully entered into the
room, reading the following aloud:
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
This floor does not require a challenge rating
scaling. The puzzle works the same for characters
of any level.
When you enter the ice-covered chamber, you
realize that you are standing on a cliffside about
thirty feet off of the ground. Large ice-covered
stalactites dangle from the high ceiling above,
and when you attempt to move further, you find
the ground to be slippery and difficult to walk
on.
Across the large room is another cliff that
appears to be just as high off of the ground as
yours does. Some sort of large apparatus sits
upon that cliff, but there does not appear to be a
way to get up to it. A large stone staircase leads
from your cliff down to the floor below, where a
giant white block can be scene resting in the
middle of the room surrounded by four ice
coated stone pillars helping to support the cliff-
like ceiling high above. To the South East and
South West are two more elevated icy cliffs that
reach as high up as the other cliffs in the room;
both of which appear to be topped with short
stone plinths affixed with mechanical levers.

10
This room is extremely cold. It is well below THE PUZZLE
freezing on this floor of the tower, and it is difficult
for most creatures to act normally under such The Cube:
extreme conditions. Due to the freezing air and the This room is designed as an unexpected twist on the
icy covered surfaces, player characters suffer the cliché ice-block and lever puzzle. Upon entering the
following effects while in this room: room, one of the most obvious things in the room is
the massive white block laying on the ice in the
middle of the room. The block is about 25 feet tall
• The floor is icy. Each time a character tries and appears to be a standard ice block at first
to move, they must treat the ground as glance. However, it is actually a snow-covered
difficult terrain-costing them twice as much Gelatinous Cube, and it is very eager to feed on
movement speed to move around. intruders. The Gelatinous Cube has been in the
• If a character moves more than 10 feet in a cold so long, that it has entered a subconscious
single turn, they must make a DC 13 state, and will only attack once something has made
Constitution check or slide an additional 1d4 physical contact with it. Until it is awakened, the
squares. (5 feet per square) monstrous cube is indistinguishable from a block of
• Climbing the icy cliffs is very difficult. Due ice. A creature cannot climb on top of the
to the very sharp and slippery surfaces, a Gelatinous Cube without falling inside of it unless
character must succeed on a DC 20 Athletics it has been frozen solid (see below).
check to successfully climb the cliff.
• Fighting is exhausting when it is below
The Levers:
freezing. Once per turn, if a character moved
or took an action, they must roll a d20. If In the middle of the room, there are four pillars that
they roll a 1 or 2, they suffer one level of reach all the way up to the ceiling. At their base,
exhaustion. there is a lever (C.) affixed to each of the four
• Falling damage onto the ice in this room pillars. Whenever one of the levers (C.) is pulled, a
deals 1d8 per 10 feet fallen, instead of 1d6. blast of ice erupts from the other three pillars (C.).
A tumble off a cliff in this room deals 3d8 Any creature within 10 feet of the ice blast must
damage. make a DC 13 dexterity saving throw or take 5d6
ice damage/ half as much on a successful save. If
the Gelatinous Cube fails this save, it is frozen
solid for 1d6 rounds. A frozen Gelatinous Cube
When the Gelatinous Cube is frozen can be pushed across the ice with a DC 12 athletics
solid, creatures may climb onto it check. A frozen Gelatinous Cube suffers 4x
without falling inside. However, the damage if attacked, but thaws out if hit with fire
frozen, flat surface of the cube is still damage.
very difficult to climb and requires a Control Panel:
DC 18 athletics Check. A creature that
attempts to pull another creature up The icy, raised platform to the Southeastern corner
onto the frozen cube must succeed on a of the room is 40 feet off the ground. Once a
DC 17 constitution saving throw or slip character manages to get across to it, they find a
off of the cube and take 30 feet worth of small stone plinth affixed with a control lever (B.).
falling damage (3d8 due to ice). A creature may spend an action to move the lever
(B.) in one of four cardinal directions: North, East,
South, West.
When the lever (B.) is moved, a massive gust of
wind suddenly erupts from small cracks in all the
11
walls, blowing violently in the chosen directions.
All creatures must make a DC 17 constitution
saving throw, or get thrown across the room, sliding The Portal
until they hit a surface that stops them. Creatures
Across the room is another large cliff with icy walls
that were moved more than 10 feet in this way take
climbing up about 40 feet high. Atop of cliff can be
1d4 damage per 10 feet moved. A creature who is
seen a large, unidentified stone apparatus (A.). Once
anticipating a lever to be thrown may spend their
a character manages to make it up to the top of the
action to try to grab hold of something sturdy prior
cliff, a DC 13 Arcana check can reveal that the
to the lever (B.) being thrown. Creatures that grab
apparatus is a deactivated portal (A.). To activate
hold in this way have advantage on their saving
the portal (A.), a magical key must be inserted. The
throw.
only way to obtain a magical key is from within one
Any items that are not being held or are not affixed of the Gelatinous Cubes. Each time a Gelatinous
to the ground in some way, automatically fail the Cube is summoned using the cube summoner
save and are flung across the room. The Gelatinous button (B.), the cube has a 25% chance of
Cube may ignore these effects unless it is frozen. containing a key. Once the portal is activated,
When it is frozen, it does not make a save and is adventurers may step into to teleport to The 5th
automatically pushed across the ice in the chosen Floor.
direction. Characters can use the cube to get up onto
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
the cliff across the room.
The 4th Floor
The Cube Summoner
1-2 Portal does not require a key. Fall damage
To the Southwestern corner of the room is another remains at 1d6 per 10 feet.
raised island that is identical to the cliff holding up
the lever (B.). This cliff supports its own plinth, 3-5 Leave at Default.
atop of which is yet a mechanical button (B.). When
6-8 Start with two Gelatinous Cubes disguised as
pressed, the button (B.) causes a Gelatinous Cube ice blocks when the party first enters the room.
to materialize in the center of the room. If a creature
occupies this space, they are absorbed into the 9-12 Start with two Gelatinous Cubes disguised as
Gelatinous Cube and suffer the appropriate effects. ice blocks when the party first enters the room.
If a Gelatinous Cube already occupies this space, it
Requires 2 keys to activate the portal.
is pushed 10 feet into a random direction, and the
new Gelatinous Cube will occupy the center space. 13-15 Start with two Gelatinous Cubes disguised as
This random direction is decided by rolling a d4. ice blocks when the party first enters the room.
Each time that a Gelatinous Cube is summoned in
this way, it has a 25 percent chance of containing a Requires 2 keys to activate the portal.
magical key within its jelly-like form. One of these Gelatinous Cubes gain: Multiattack: This
keys is required to activate the portal. The portal creature may make two attacks.
leads to The 5th Floor.
16-20 Start with three Gelatinous Cubes disguised as
ice blocks when the party first enters the room.

Requires 2 keys to activate the portal.

Gelatinous Cubes gain: Multiattack: This


creature may make three attacks.

Increase Gelatinous Cubes starting Hit Points to


138.

12
5TH FLOOR 6TH FLOOR

The moment that you teleport, the temperature You all exit into a room far larger than any so
becomes immensely more tolerable. You find far. You are standing before what looks like a
yourself in a well-lit room with a light grey large battlefield. Sizable chunks of stone
stonework making up the walls, ceiling, and decorate the path before you, and charred,
floor. The room is only 40 square feet, and the crumbling armored skeletons are littered across
ceiling is about 12 feet in height. In the middle the ground. The room does not seem to have a
of the room stands six doors, each labeled: I, II, ceiling, and is instead open to a clear, starry
III, IV, V, VI, respectively. Behind you, on the night sky. On your side of the room is a small
South side of the room, is a wall with another stone plinth, atop which floats a large golden
door that is identical to the other six but is not key. A large door can be seen on the far side of
labeled with a number. the room on an elevated platform with a ladder,
300 feet away. The door is glowing.

The six doors are one sided. If players walk around


to the other side, the backs of each door will appear Note: If a player attempts to fly or climb out of this
as solid cement. A DC 14 investigation check on the room, they are rapidly pulled back down to the
back of any of the doors reveals strange markings ground and suffer 10d6 falling damage
carved into the cement. Crude carvings of letters
At first glance, the large room appears to be empty
spelling: S-E-V-E-N are carved into the back of five
aside from some large boulders. It is 200 feet wide
out six the doors; one letter on each.
and 300 feet long. A closer inspection of the large
If a creature or object moves through one of the six battlefield shows that the large chunks of stone have
labeled doors, they appear from the door behind fallen off the cliffs that make up the massive walls
them to the south of the room and nothing about the in this room. A DC 12 investigation check reveals
room is changed. The only way for the players to that there are scorch marks all along the battlefield,
solve this puzzle is to move through the doors that and that many of the skeletons appear to be entirely
add up to seven. For example, some of the party disintegrated.
might move through door five and two
The moment the key is touched in any way, read the
simultaneously. They might also move through
following aloud:
doors six and door one. They could even move
through doors four, two, and one simultaneously.
A loud screech radiates across the
When the entire party has successfully moved room, echoing off of the stone cliffs
forward in this way, the characters will find around you. Something large suddenly
themselves on the 6th Floor. comes soaring out from behind one of
the boulders and a bright orange light
flashes across the room, followed by a
horrible, high pitched rippling sound.
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING You feel searing pain rush over you as
This floor does not require a challenge rating the heat begins to burn at your skin.
scaling. The puzzle works the same for characters
of any level.

13
Have all creatures within 20 feet of the stone plinth
make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 4d10
fire damage (half as much damage on a successful
save).
An attacking Beholder Kin (appendix A) appears.
Read the following aloud:

A fiery explosion rings out across the stone


platform as a purple beam erupts from one of
the eyestalks of a large floating spherical
creature just thirty feet away. The monster has a
large central eye that sits just above a gaping,
toothy maw. A dozen or so long, slithering
tendrils float around the spherical core, each
affixed with a glaring eyestalk. The creature Have your players roll initiative. Their goal is
growls menacingly. simple: Get across the room and use the key to open
the door to the 7th floor. They just have to survive.
The Beholder Kin (appendix A) is extremely
aggressive and will do its best to kill them all. They
do not need to kill the monster, they need only to
get the key into the door to escape to The 7th Floor.

CHALLENGE RATING SCALING


1-2 Replace Beholder Kin with a Spectator. When the key
is grabbed, reduce saving throw DC to 12 and reduce
Fire Damage to 2d8.

3-5 Leave at Default.

6-8 Increase Beholder Kin’s health to 110 Hit Points.

9-12 Replace Beholder Kin with Beholder. Reduce Armor


Class to 16. When key is grabbed, increase saving
throw DC to 16 and change fire damage to 6d8
necrotic damage instead.

13-15 Replace Beholder Kin with Beholder When key is


grabbed, increase saving throw DC to 16 and change
fire damage to 8d8 necrotic damage instead.

16-20 Replace Beholder Kin with Death Tyrant. When key is


grabbed, increase saving throw DC to 17 and change
fire damage to 8d8 necrotic damage instead.

14
7TH FLOOR 8TH FLOOR

As you all go through the door, you appear to be You suddenly appear in very hot, brightly lit room. The floor
standing in what seems like a large, empty log is an odd, burnt-looking checkered pattern that divides into
cabin. The room is about 40 square feet with a two thin paths on the Eastern and Western sides of the room,
10-foot celling. A soft hum sounds from behind meeting on the other side to form a box-shape and leading to
you, and the door from The 6th Floor vanishes. another door. Thirty feet below the paths is a lower level
The room appears to be devoid of all furniture, made up of stone and rubble that glows red like coals, giving
but does house a dozen or so small, white, fluffy off enough light to illuminate and heat the large room. In the
creatures that bleat about the room. They are corners of the room, chains descend from various parts of
about the size of rabbits, but appear to be docile, the pathway floor and drop down into the glowing coals.
little sheep! There is no door that you can see. You hardly even have time to fully examine the whole room
before you hear a loud gibbering howl:
“awglhhuugghhhrrrr!!”. The sound is coming from four
grotesque, oozing, green and yellow mounds of slime that
The walls, ceiling, and floor are made out of solid seem to be slithering about on the elevated pathway in each
oak wood. The room has nothing in it. Not even a of the four corners of the chamber. Hundreds of glowering
door. The tiny sheep are just harmless, adorable, eyes and drooling, toothy mouths blink, and writhe, and
little creatures. A DC 16 investigation check reveals gurgle horrifically. The sound alone seemed enough to drive
a single thing symbol carved into the center of the one mad. All four seem very aware of your presence as they
North wall: a “Z”. begin to mouth and jabber incoherently.

The “Z” and the sheep are clues to how to solve the
puzzle. At this point, the party is no-doubt
exhausted, hurt, and running low on steam. They
are in luck! This room is known as the Room of
Rest, because the only way to make the door appear
is to go to sleep. If any creature takes a Short Rest
or Long Rest in this room, a teleportation pad
magically appears in front of the North wall where
the “Z” was inscripted. Interacting with it teleports
the characters to The 8th Floor.

15
All that the players need to do is make it to the door Note to DM: Make sure that you are utilizing the
on the other side. However, the door is locked, and Gibbering Mouther’s abilities. The true difficulty
they will need to get a key out from inside one of of this encounter comes from this creature’s ability
the four Gibbering Mouthers. You can choose or to control and bully the player characters around. It
roll a d4 to help to determine which one has the key. can use its Aberrant Ground ability to trap players
When a Gibbering Mouthers dies, have it bubble in its grasp or use its Gibbering ability to send them
and gurgle and evaporate into nothingness. This flying off into the coals below.
way, the one with the key will dissipate and leave
just the key behind so that your party can escape
without having to decide to dig through the corpse
Needless to say, your players are going to get tossed
of a Gibbering Mouther in hopes of finding a key.
down into the lower level with the coals a few
This encounter can be pretty tough and even deadly. times. The drop off is 30 feet below, so falling
It is the 8th Floor after all! The lower level is made causes 3d6 bludgeoning damage. Moving across the
up of hot rocks that are heated up like coal due to an coals causes its own complications as previously
intense heat below. Every time a creature moves on mentioned.
the glowing rocks on the lower level, they must
succeed on a DC 14 constitution saving throw or
take 1d6 fire damage. They take zero damage on a On each corner of the room (near the Gibbering
successful save. Mouthers of course) there are chains that players
can use to get their character back up onto the safety
From the moment that the players enter this room,
of the platform. The iron chains can be climbed
they must roll initiative. At the top of the initiative
easily but are hot. Have a creature interacting with
order, including the first round, have one of your
the hot iron chains make a DC 15 Constitution
players roll a d20. On a roll of 5 or less, a blast of
saving throw or take 1d6 fire damage from the hot
fire erupts from all of the glowing rocks on the
metal.
second floor, dealing 4d6 fire damage to anyone
caught below. Have one of your players repeat this
d20 roll at the top of initiative order once per round.
CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
1-2 Players do not need a key to open the door. Remove
fire damage from chains.

3-5 Leave at Default.

6-8 Leave at Default.

9-12 Door requires two keys.

13-15 Door requires two keys. Player characters and friendly


NPCs cannot use magic in this room.

16-20 Door requires two keys. Player characters and friendly


NPCs cannot cast spells in this room. The Gibbering
Mouthers are immune to non-magical sources of
damage.

16
9TH FLOOR

Area 1

When the party comes through the door, they find


themselves standing in a colorful room with green and gold
tile flooring. In front of you are five identical wooden doors,
each even spaced across the wide room. In between each
large door burns a bright torch. Each of the four torches are a
different color, burning yellow, red, blue, and white from
West to East. To the far East side of the room is an
enormous skeleton. It appears to be very old and belonged to
someone that must have been close to twenty feet tall. It is
otherwise empty.

Area 1 is about 120 feet wide and 35 feet vertically.


The different colored flames are actual fire that can
be added to torches and moved whilst retaining their
color. They are not needed for this first room but
will be needed in one of the next rooms on this
floor. These flames are impossible to extinguish,
even with magic.

The trick to this room is simply to choose the


correct door. Out of the five doors, only one is a Area 2
real door. The other four are Mimics.
After finding and traveling through the correct door, you
The giant skeleton is simply a giant skeleton. It is find yourself in another room- this time even smaller than
non-magical and does not show any signs of how it the one you just came from. The floor is made of dark stone
ended up here. It is not needed for this room but with some lighter grey tiles in an odd, non-symmetric
comes in required for Area 4 of this floor. pattern. On the northern wall is a large, stone gateway built
with a large colorful pattern on the door. To both sides of the
Once the characters have chosen the correct door, door are three torches, with another torch on the South wall
they are free to move ahead, but any disturbed directly across from the colorful door for a total of seven.
Mimics will remain aggressive and chase them until There is nothing else in this room.
destroyed. Non-disturbed Mimics remain passively
disguised as doors unless bothered. The colorful pattern on the
door looks like this:
It is integral to solving the
puzzle for Area 2.

17
To solve the puzzle for this room, the player
characters must use the colorful fire from Area 1
and light the torches in the right order, as specified
by the colorful design on the door. The door
automatically opens once the torches are lit in the
correct order: yellow, green, blue, purple, red, pink,
white.
Yellow, blue, red, and white can be gathered from
Area 1 using torches, candles, or anything else the
characters want to ignite to transfer the flame. The
green, purple, and pink can be obtained by
combining the surrounding flame colors like one
might mix paint. Yellow flame plus blue flame
makes a green flame. Blue flame plus red flame
yields a purple flame. Finally, mixing a red flame
with a white flame makes a pink flame. –––

Area 3

The moment that the door to Area 3 is opened, the loud


sound of running water begins to echo through the stone
chamber. The room is filled largely with water, and a series
of narrow 5-foot-wide paths move around the watery room
like a maze. To the East side of the room, you are able to see
a platform that is out on its of like a sort of island, and sitting
on it is a sizeable wooden treasure chest flanked on both
water. This Grell is hostile and quite starved. It
sides by huge stone skulls. To the West side of the room is
hides until it is ready to strike. As the DM, you can
another platform with a raised concrete slab that looks
choose any moment to surprise your players with a
similar to a teleportation pad. In the center of the room are a
sudden attack from the Grell. When hurt, it will try
series of small singular platforms that float 5 feet away from
to hide under the water and also dives under the
one another in a sort of checkerboard pattern. The six of
water to move around the room at double speed!
these platforms to the right are a very colorful green, white,
purple, pink, yellow, blue, and red, standing out boldly from The room is also full of traps! When a creature steps
the rest of the tiles in the room that are more of a mute, on one of the tiles marked with a red dot (the dot
greenish grey hue. In the center of the room, just behind the does not actually appear on the ground to players)
red platform, is a door with a circular impression where one blasts of necrotic energy fire from the mouths of the
could insert some sort of disc-shaped object as a key. two skulls to the East side of the room and blast
toward the activated tile. Have the creature make a
DC 17 dexterity saving throw or the blast hits them,
The puzzle for Area 3 has the potential to be dealing 2d8 necrotic damage (half as much on a
deadly. Not only is there a puzzle to be solved, but successful save). The blast shoots in a direct path
there are more than a few dangers posed toward the and only damages the first creature it hits in the line
players to make solving the puzzle all the more of fire to the activated tile.
difficult. Though the room appears to be devoid of If a creature steps on the platform labeled on the
creatures, a starved Grell hides beneath the surface map with a red X (the X does not appear on the
of the ground in the room for players) it causes another
18
platform to suddenly rise out of the water in the
space marked on the DM map with the red box
outline. A single key is sitting on the platform. This
key is used to open the chest that appears on the
teleportation pad to the West side of the room.
When the teleportation tap is examined closely, it
shows the following symbols:

In order to summon the chest to the teleportation


pad, the players must use the colored flames from
the previous areas to change the color of some of
the tiles so that they match the other colored tiles
that are beside them in the room. A player may
touch a torch (or other flammable item) to any of
the non-colored tiles marked with the red dots on
the DM map. When the torch flame is touched to it,
it will change the tile to match the color of the
flame. So, if a blue flame is touched to the tile, the
tile will turn blue. The goal is to make the 7 non-
colored platforms colored to mirror the colors of the
other 7 platforms that are colored.
Once the color puzzle is solved, a chest appears on
the teleportation platform to the West of the room.
The key from the East side of the room can be used
to open this chest. Inside the chest is the medallion
needed to open the door to the final area of The 9th Area 4
Floor. Area 4 is less colorful than the third area was. It is a
large, sinister looking room with dark, grey stone tile
flooring and walls. In each of the four corners rests a
Here is an example of how the solved puzzle should large stone statue of a massive head with its mouth
look. agape. In the center, back part of the room is a massive
black and red throne, upon which sits a large horned
Not solved: skull. Behind the throne, taking up much of the wall, is
another, much more gigantic skull, protruding outward
from the wall with sharp teeth and a hanging open
mouth that creates the alcove where the throne sits.
Two horns curl back from either side of the skull’s
Solved: forehead, wrapping around all the way to the floor. A
bright red ember glows from out of the dark eye sockets
a nostril slots on the huge demonic skull, giving the
room an ominous feel as it was the only source of light.
Finally, against the West wall, is a large door giving off
a feint gold shimmer. Its lock glows a bright blue.

19
There is nothing in the room that is going to attack CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
the players right away. They are free to investigate
1-2 Replace the Hill Giant stats with the stats of a Wight.
the room as they please, and doing so reveals the
Replace Grell stats with the stats of a Grick. Reduce
following: the Necrotic Blast damage in area 3 to 1d8 and reduce
the save to DC 14.
• The walls show carved motifs of a giant,
horned warrior fighting at least a dozen 3-5 Leave at Default.
normal sized people at once in the middle of
a battle in a burning city. 6-8 Replace Hill Giant stats with Stone Giant.
• The door to the West is locked. 9-12 Replace Hill Giant stats with Fire Giant.
• The skull sitting on the throne is a giant
helmet and is not able to be broken.
13-15 Replace Hill Giant Stats with Storm Giant. Increase
The only way to unlock the door in this room is to Mimic AC to 17 and double Mimic Hit Points.
awaken the giant warrior. The characters must put
16-20 Replace Hill Giant Stats with Mummy Lord. Replace
the horned skull helmet back on the enormous Grell with a Cloaker. Increase Mimic AC to 20 and
skeleton in Area 1 to awaken it. Once the horned triple Mimic Hit Points.
helmet has been put back on the giant skeleton, read
the following aloud to your players:

The helmet slides on as a near perfect fit, and


immediately the ancient bones will begin to clatter and
shake on the dusty stone floor. A violent red light
begins to glow from the bones, and the gigantic
skeleton will start to rise from its undead slumber. The
monstrous thing rises slowly to its feet, glaring down at
you all with its eyes-less sockets through the mask of
the horned helmet. The skeleton will lift its right hand
into the air, pointing to you all while a gigantic axe
materializes in its left hand. A deep voice reverberates
from the skull, uttering only a single word: “Fools”. It
suddenly bursts into flames, growling loudly as it
bounds towards you into battle.

The giant skeleton is the cursed skeletal remains of


ant ancient Hill Giant warrior. The creature is
immediately hostile and will fight to kill. The
monster is relentless in its attacks. When it is slain,
it suddenly melts into a repugnant ichor, revealing
the key needed for the door to escape onto the final,
10th Floor. The fire only lasts for a moment,
showing his rage. At your discretion, you could use
this fire to cause damage or signify some sort of
enraged mode.
Note: The Hill Giant skeleton can easily fit through
the massive doors on this map because the doors are
also extra-large in size.

20
10TH FLOOR If one or more of your players’ characters have
Darkvision or a member of your party creates light,
You walk through the door to find a tiny room with red-brick walls, read the following aloud:
a solid black stone floor, and two doors. One of doors, which is
highly decorated, is on the Northern wall on the opposite side of the Large chunks of stone and rock jut from the cave
small room, just twenty feet away. There is a circular socket inlaid
walls in huge violent spires. Massive stalactites
in the door where something disc-shaped can be inserted. The
second door is a plain, but heavy looking black iron door located on hang from the ceiling menacingly, while equally
the left side along the Western wall. There does not appear to be intimidating stalagmites decorate the ground with
anything else in this room. their large sharp tips growing toward the ceiling.
A giant mound of treasure, at least fifty feet in
diameter, takes up most of the center of the room,
and top of it rests and enormous black dragon that
To open the door, the characters must retrieve a
medallion and insert it into the small disc-shaped appears to be sleeping.
opening. This medallion is hidden in the room
behind the iron door. When they open the door, read If players created light in the room, they have one
the following. reaction to extinguish it as soon as the description is
read. Have that player roll a d20. On a 1,2, or 3, the
Behind the iron door on the West wall is a long, dark, dragon wakes up.
narrow hallway. It is only 5 feet wide and is forty feet If characters are being noisy and not cautiously
long and seems to turn off to the left. As you follow it, quiet, have them make the same check to see if the
you hear only an earie silence paired with some sort dragon awakens. At your discretion, the dragon may
low grumble echoing off the walls. The hallway wake up automatically or remain asleep based on
continues left for another twenty feet before spilling the situation and your player’s choices.
out into a massive, high ceiling cave. There is no light
in this room at all, and though you can’t see, the low,
almost rhythmic sounding grumbling noise has grown
much louder and appears to be coming from the center
of the massive chamber.

The room the hallway leads to is a massive


abandoned mineshaft in a deep underground cave.
The cave itself is about three-hundred feet in height
and the room is roughly two-hundred square feet in
size. The room is pitch black and no light exists
unless the players create it. There is a massive hoard
of gold and treasure in the center of the room.
Sleeping atop that treasure is a large Young Black
Dragon. Attached to a small collar around the
dragon’s neck the medallion needed to open the
door. If the players are careful, quiet, cunning, and
lucky, they might be able to get the medallion
without waking the dragon. If they have to fight the
monster, it is in their best interest to devise a plan to
get the medallion and flee.

21
Though the dragon is a young dragon, it is still very Players do not need to kill the dragon. They only
large. A player may make an appropriate check to need to retrieve the medallion to open the door. The
determine that is indeed a Young Black Dragon dragon will focus its attacks on any creature who is
and not an adult dragon worse. carrying the medallion, attacking others only when
it is most opportune or if it cannot reach the carrier
of the medallion.
A creature may attempt to sneak up to the dragon, CHALLENGE RATING SCALING
which is a great idea, but not easy. The dragon,
asleep or awake, has a passive perception of 16. 1-2 Replace Young Black Dragon with a Red Dragon
Any attempt to stealth that does not exceed a 16 Wyrmling. Dragon’s passive perception is reduced to
awakens the dragon. If the dragon is awakened, it is DC 14 instead of 16.
immediately hostile. 3-5 Leave at Default.

6-8 Replace Young Black Dragon with Young Red Dragon.

A character may attempt to remove the medallion 9-12 Replace Young Black Dragon with Adult Black Dragon.
by spending an action to make a DC 17 sleight of
hand check. If the dragon is still sleeping, this check
13-15 Replace Young Black Dragon with Adult Red Dragon.
is made with disadvantage. A character must be Dragon may use Lair Actions.
directly adjacent to the dragon’s head to make this
attempt. After the medallion is retrieved, a character 16-20 Replace Young Black Dragon with Ancient Red
must succeed on an additional DC 16 stealth check Dragon. Dragon may use Lair Actions.
to sneak away undetected. Any failure at any point
in the process will awaken the dragon.

22
VICTORY!
YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED THE TOWER

Once your players have managed to get the medallion from dragon, be it through either skilled theft,
hardened combat, or brash luck, they can finally unlock the final door and claim their prize!
How you want to handle the end of this adventure is up to you. You can stock a room full of treasure, gold,
and magic items. You could have the characters magically teleported back outside the tower. You can have
this module end anyway that works best for your story.
However, there is an intended prize that I personally feel adds a lot to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. At
the very top of The Mage Tower is a place called The Observatory. One of the features of The
Observatory is an artifact called The Door of Many Places. It is a magical door that allows the commander
of The Mage Tower to register certain locations around the multiverse and travel to them instantly.
This allows The Mage Tower to serve as your players headquarters. It can become a place they call home,
giving them more of a connection to the world that their characters live in. Plus, it is just an awesome that
your players get to own their very own magical, monster-stocked, interdimensional mage tower! However
you choose to end this campaign, thank you for playing The Mage Tower, and keep being awesome.

23
CHAPTER 3: THE OBSERVATORY

The Observatory is the true prize awaiting those who conqueror all 10 floors of The Mage Tower. Just as the
interior of the tower itself is a place not bound to a single dimension, The Observatory is not limited to just
making observations within this dimension. It can observe select events and locations regardless of planet,
galaxy, plane, dimension, or perhaps even time!

As the dungeon master, the way you want The Observatory to work is up to you based on your group and
campaign. I like for The Observatory to be able to transcend dimensions, planes, galaxies, etc., but I limit it
to a certain number of locations based on how I want to run my campaign. I usually allow for The Mage Tower
to be connected to 10 different locations at a time; each of which I determine.

24
THE DOOR OF MANY PLACES

The Door of Many Places is arguably the greatest feature of The Observatory. It is an ancient magical relic
that allows one to instantly travel across galaxies, dimensions, and planes, as easily as turning a door handle.
The Door of Many Places is the roof The Mage Tower’s power and protecting it from those who might abuse
it is the primary reason for the 10 floors of defenses that guard it.
The Door of Many Places is an
interdimensional artifact that is
tethered to multiple points across
space and time. As stated previously,
there are 10 identical mage towers
including this one that exist in various
locations throughout the galaxy,
across other planes and dimensions.
The Door of Many Places is what
links these towers, and anyone who
commands The Mage Tower is able
to travel through it. They simply need
to select the location from the 10
registered options (as determined by
the DM) and pass through the door.
They will then find themselves just
outside the tower at that location.
Note: A commander of The Mage
Tower is anyone who has completed
all 10 trials and reached The
Observatory.
You can let your door take them
anywhere you choose. Perhaps it
links to all sorts of places. Some of
my personal favorite D&D locales
include: Waterdeep, Chult, Barovia,
Eberron, Neverwinter, Baldur’s Gate,
The Underdark, and Icewind Dale.
You could even build a whole
campaign around your characters
controlling The Mage Tower and
having to find the other 9 locations to
finish registering The Door of Many
Places. The possibilities are truly
endless.

25
APPENDIX A:MONSTERS

26
CREDITS

Created by: Jeremy Fair

Written by: Jeremy Fair

Internal Art by: Wizards of the Coast

Maps made by: Jeremy Fair using Inkarnate.com

Special Thanks to

Wizards of the Coast & The DM’s Guild

27

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