Citadel of Evil Dungeon World Conversion 1.

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Both the original Citadel of Evil Adventure Module and the Swords and Wizardry RPG it is written for
can be obtained for free currently from DrivethruRPG.com. The original module is required to
understand the conversion; I encourage GMs to obtain the original RPG game rules to help them further
modify my conversion for their own campaigns as necessary.

This conversion, like its Tower of Zenopus predecessor, is set in my campaign world of Ares. Further
information about Ares can be obtained in my modules posted on the Dungeon World Tavern site,
especially The Labyrinths of Kane. Portown is located outside the Domain of Kane, but near enough to
both this location and my version of the Island of the Lizard God. The hidden Halfling valley-village of
Lost Eden (or Hidden Valley) is located somewhere south of the Mountain of the Third Eye but north of
the Dwarven Mines of Enoch. An alternate site is in the coastal mountains outside Portown (Hidden
Valley), especially if the GM wishes to use both adventure conversions.

Final, canon locations have not been finalized. Both conversions, but particularly Citadel of Evil was
converted extremely quickly, sometimes on the fly at the gaming table. I found both the Dungeon World
Codex and Dungeon World Fantasy Creatures websites very useful.

This module was adopted for a young, inexperienced group of gamers highly enamored with Peter
Jackson’s Hobbit film trilogy. GMs will naturally wish to adapt to their own groups.

The Setup: The Magnificent Adventurers

To begin with the usual cliché: adventurers are approached in a tavern by a pair of Halflings (this could
also be the start of a joke). The setup is the same as the famous film Seven Samurai (or the equally
famous film remakes The Magnificent Seven, Three Amigos or A Bug’s Life). The peaceful, hidden
Halfling valley of Lost Eden has been discovered by a terrifying group of hobgoblin bandits who have
seized hostages from the hobbit village. Fortunately the Halflings are aware of caverns beneath the
nearby ruined slave citadel that the hobgoblins are using as a base. Caverns which village lore promises
to provide secret access to the citadel…

The Halflings have little money for a reward but promise that once the hostages are free they will launch
an assault with an allied tribe of snow elves and wipe out the remaining hobgoblin marauders. Any
treasure found plus a small reward (200 coins each) for each hostage rescued will be provided.

How can the players’ refuse?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Module

Questions for the Party

Who has a claim to be the legal Lord of the Citadel?

Did anyone grow up in Lost Eden or have friends or family there?

Has anyone heard of a magical item known as a Shoggoth Stone?

What secret treasure does the party believe the Citadel of Evil contains?

Has anyone crossed paths with an evil wizard known as the Conjurer?

A: The Caves

Room 1: I have replaced the two gnomes with a single friendly dwarf prospector searching for his lost
brother:

DWARF PROSPECTOR Intelligent, Cautious

Pickaxe strike. (b[2d10+2] damage 1 piercing) 16 HP 6 armor

Close, Forceful, Near

Instinct: To find precious metal and gems.

 Attack foes and thieves with pickaxe.

Room 2: No change

Room 3: The pool casts a Clerical Bless spell on everyone if anyone in the party adds a coin. If a player
removes a coin the spell is cancelled for that player.
Room 4: Eating the mushrooms always acts as a Cure Light Wounds cleric spell for the consuming player.

For the Phantasmal Force Effect roll for each player must roll versus Constitution:

10+: No harmful side effects

7-9: Mild pleasant hallucinations, player takes -1 on all rolls for 1d6 turns due to distractions

6 or less: Player falls into a coma filled with nightmares for 1d6 turns

Room 5: Damage from falling into the pit is 1d6.

Room 6: This well is sacred to Death who will always bargain with players (or NPCS) who miss their Last
Breath roll. Death will demand the elimination of the Conjurer, the Citadel’s current ruler.

Room 7:

INSECT SWARM Horde, Tiny, Devious

Bite (d4-2 damage) 3 HP 0 armor
Hand
Special Qualities: It's a swarm

The acid deals 1d4 of dmg at the beginning of each round, during 1d4 rounds

Instinct: To eat

 Goes inside the clothes or armor

 They inject acid when they bite.

Room 8:

GIANT SPIDER Group, Small, Stealthy, Devious, Hoarder

Fangs (d6+2 damage) 6 HP 0 armor
Close, Near

Instinct: To capture and feed.

 Ambush from the ceiling

 Hide in the Shadows
 Immobilize with Webbing

The dwarf’s brother is here as well with zero hit points strung up in a web. The treasure is as listed. Both
dwarves will join the party as NPCs if the brother is successfully rescued.
“Spear of the Shadow Hunter” by Jim Schmitz

Reach, thrown, near, 1 piercing, +1 damage, 1 weight

The Spear of the Shadow Hunter is a beautifully crafted, and entirely black, spear. Its haft is made of
some sort of pure black wood that is both sturdy and light to the touch. Affixed to the end with a
wrapping of black metallic wire is an obsidian spearhead that never chips of dulls. At first, the spear
seems to be nothing more than an exceptionally crafted weapon. But once the spear draws blood, the
spear will be bonded to that quarry until it is killed. When the bearer of the Spear of the Shadow Hunter
stalks the quarry alone, he will be able to track the quarry directly to its location. The spear becomes
enveloped in tendrils of shadow, obfuscating and hiding the hunter, and guiding him to his prey. But
once on the hunt, the hunter cannot relent even for a moment, nor can he call other hunters to his aid,
lest the spirits of the great hunters within the spear judge him unworthy.

When alone in “stalking mode” the player is both invisible and silent until he finds and attacks his
quarry again. If he “relents” the blood link to his prey is broken and cannot be reestablished until blood
is drawn again.

Room 9: Damage from falling is 1d6.

B: The Crypts

Room 10: Entrance to the room will require a successful Bend Bars, Lift Gates roll or other Strength
related roll from the party.

Wizards and Bards will be able to speak and understand Ancient and therefore the skulls.
Room 11:

GOLEM, WOOD Group, Construct

Wood fists (d8+2 damage) 6 HP 1 armor
Close, Near, Forceful

Instinct: To serve his master

Room 12:

LIVING STATUE Group, Construct

Stone fists (d8 damage) 10 HP 0 armor

Close

Special Qualities: Stone

Statues carved in the shape of ancient warriors, these magical constructs will defend their lair against
intruders until they are destroyed.

Instinct: To guard

Room 13:

These items replace the treasure in the room:

Arcane Map in a Scroll case of Bone

3 Uses, 0 Weight

This item is a blank map on withered parchment within a scroll case of bone. After a player spends a few
minutes concentrating on the item the map will show a route to his or her greatest desire. Note that the
map does not usually show monsters, traps or hidden doors. After three uses it crumbles.
Shoggoth Stone

Touch, 1 Weight

When an adventurer “takes up the stone”, hold 3. Holds can be spent, one for one, to give orders to the
Terror Pudding or similar “blob” monster (black pudding, gray ooze, ochre jelly, even a minor shoggoth).
Each adventurer may only “take up the stone” only once per shoggoth stone obtained or risk madness.

Kevin Bishop’s Bane Blade

Hand, Messy, 1 Weight

When plunged into a wound, it will slowly draw out any poison and store it within the blade. The stored
poisons can be released by stabbing a healthy person, or by washing them out with an all-night ritual.

Room 14: Opening the doors in this room will require a successful Bend Bars, Lift Gates roll or other
Strength related roll from the party. The room is magically silent due to a glyph of silence inscribed on
the floor. It may only be removed by dispel magic.

Room 15:

The Animate Dead spell will create 1d6 skeletons which will attack the party until destroyed.

SKELETON Horde

Slam (d6 damage) 7 HP 0 armor

Close

Special Qualities: Undead

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones…

Instinct: To take the semblance of life

Room 16: The stone block requires a successful Bend Bars, Lift Gates roll or other Strength related roll
from the party.

C: The Dungeon

Room 17: No change

Room 18: Replace Rats with six Rat Things.

RAT THING Horde, Small

Claws (d4 damage) 3 HP 0 armor
Close

Rats mutated by an evil sorcerer’s experiments, horribly disfigured bipedal mutated rats with human faces.

Instinct: Attack intruders!

 Claw and Bite

 Gnaw Things

Room 19: One of the prison cells contains Max, a disgruntled neutral hobgoblin mercenary that can be
recruited to help the party.

Room 20:

HOBGOBLIN MERCENARY Group, Organized, Intelligent, Cautious

Sword or Spear (b[2d8] damage) 6 HP 3 armor

Close

Hobgoblins superficially resemble goblins in skin tone and facial features but stand straight and tall as a
man, are intelligent, utilize manufactured armor and arms, and demonstrate a proclivity for military
organization.

Instinct: To make war

 Command lesser goblinoids

 Form ranks
BUGBEAR Group, Large, Stealthy, Cautious

Morningstar (d8+4 damage) 10 HP 2 armor

Close, Forceful

Big, tough goblins that love to fight, bugbears dominate their smaller goblin kin, and are the champions,
picked guards, and muscle for their cleverer hobgoblin kin. Bugbears take whatever they want and bully
others into doing their work. They hunt for food, eating any creature they can kill, including other
goblins. Bugbears stand between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh in as the largest and burliest of the goblins
at 500 pounds. Bugbears are surprisingly sneaky for their size. They sometimes send out their smaller kin
to lead overeager adventurers into a trap. If they can’t achieve surprise, bugbears look for chances to
flank their foes.

Instinct: To bully or eat the weak

 Dominates lesser goblins

 Ambush or flank

Room 21:

CULTIST Horde, Organized, Intelligent

Dagger (d6 damage) 3 HP 0 armor

Close

"Gods? Let me tell you something about your gods, holy man."

Instinct: to perform blasphemous rites unthinkable to civilized society

 Sacrifice themselves for the cause

 Raise the alarm
 Stealthy, Magical, Organized, Intelligent,
CONJURER
Cautious, Hoarder

Elemental spell (d10 damage) 12 HP 1 armor

Close, Ignores Armor, Near

Special Qualities: Can cast the clerical spell Cause Fear and wizard spell Mirror Image

I am no simple hedge mage!

Instinct: To seek forbidden power

The Ochre Jelly is now a Terror Pudding:

TERROR PUDDING, Cthulhu Mythos Monster Solitary, Terrifying, Amorphous

Corrosive touch (d10 damage, ignores armor) 15 HP 1 Armor
Close
Special Qualities: Amorphous, Immune to normal weapons, vulnerable to fire.

Will retreat to heal if damaged by ordinary means and drops to zero HP.

Fire damage to zero HP will destroy it forever.

How do you kill a pile of goo? A pile of goo constantly forming eyes and tentacles? A great, terrifying pile
of goo that also happens to want to dissolve you and slurp you up? That is a good question to which I
have no answer. Do let us know when you find out.

Instinct: To dissolve

 Ooze into a troubling place and spread chaos

 To escape and destroy mindlessly
 Blocked by the Symbol of Koth or a Elder Sign
 Fond of forbidden places, nameless underground desert cities and the arctic
 Attracts worshipful Cthulhu Mythos Cultists
 Could be commanded by a magical item known as the Shoggoth Stone
Room 22: No Change

Room 23: The Conjurer, the Bugbear and Max know the password.

Room 24: No Change

D: The Citadel

Room 25: No Change

Room 26:

HOBGOBLIN Horde, Intelligent

Battle-axe (d6+4 damage)

3 HP 1 armor
or Arrows (d6 damage)

Close, Forceful

Instinct: To build an army and enslave others

Room 27: Lighting a candle will cast Cure Light Wounds on each member of the entire party.

Room 28: No change

Room 29: No change

New Spells

Hold Portal

First level

A Spell which will hold a gate, door for 2d6 turns magically shut. A dispel magic or knock spell will cancel
it and the door can be physically shattered.

Knock

First level

Will open most magically held or locked doors. Note: Will not open a Symbol of Koth door.

Wizard Lock

Third Level

As per a hold portal spell, except the lock exists until the spell is dispelled or the door destroyed. The
wizard may enchant a key or choose a password which will allow the door to open while keeping the
spell intact.