Sample file Into the Belly of the Beast An adventure for four to five characters of levels 3rd to 5th. Written By Jeff C. Stevens [email protected] @jcorvinstevens Cover and Internal Artist Daniel F. Walthall A link to Daniel’s work and can be found in Free! Fantasy Stock Art by Daniel F. Walthall Free! Fantasy Stock Art by Daniel F. Walthall is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (CC BY 4.0) Cartography Some artwork by © 2017 Elven Tower Cartography, used with permission. All rights reserved. https://www.patreon.com/elventower Test Readers M.T. Black, Ken Carcas, Jean Headley, Harrison O’Sullivan Layouts Benoit de Bernardy 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 charactersSample and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This materialfile 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 © Jeff C. Stevens 2017 INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 2 DM’s Overhead Map (A printer friendly version is available at the end of this module). Suggested hours of travelSample are listed as numbers from one point to the next. file INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 3 Player’sSample Map file INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 4 any years ago, Gras’ess, a † Encounter I – Swamp Goblin Island lizardman from deep within Potentially necessary to complete a side the swamp, drew this map. quest. He took the map and several large gemstones to the edge Chapter Three: X Marks the Spot of the marsh and waited for a The players find their way to the X marked on Mnobleman or adventuring party to pass so he the map, and a final encounter that may prove might engage in trade. Gras’ess wanted to move deadly. † up higher in his tribe’s ranks and wished to trade Encounter J – The Guarded Land for magical weapons. Necessary. No events occur in this section. † The lizardman did meet up with a group of Encounter K – The Belly of the Beast traveling adventurers, but the encounter did not Necessary. Completes the original objective. go as he had planned. The adventurers attacked Gras’ess, killed him, looted him of his jewels Possible Adventure Hooks and map and then proceeded on to Daggerford. Getting the PCs involved is just a matter of The adventuring party lost the map in a game of making sure that they come across the map. You Three Dragon Ante. See the ‘Possible Adventure can find below some possible ways they might Hooks’ section for where the map ended up. acquire it: † A sibling or family member acquired the map Adventure Outline while gambling. † This adventure is broken into thee chapters, The party acquire the map while gambling. † with each chapter being slightly customizable. The party find the map during another Necessary and Optional encounters are listed in adventure. † the below outline. The party find a young boy or girl standing Chapter One: Into the Swamp along the edge of a swamp. The child wears an overstuffed backpack while reading the The players, having already acquired a map, map. The child’s parent has been ill and the enter the swamp and follow the map to various family needs gold. The child could sell the destinations. map to the adventurers for 100 gold pieces. † Encounter A – The Lizardman Patrol Necessary. Starts the action. † Encounter B – The Rolling Grass About this Adventure Optional. DMs discretion. I’ve wanted to create a swamp adventure for a † Encounter C – The Hag of the Swamp while, and the image I had in my head is now Necessary. Introduces a potential NPC the beautiful cover image by Daniel F. Walthall. † Encounter D – Random Island Encounter The dragon skull is the ‘X marks the spot’ in Optional. this treasure hunt adventure through a swamp. † Encounter E – Lizardfolk Island I’ve included several additional encounters Necessary. Party acquires a boat or side quest. that can be used to extend the adventure. Chapter Two: Decisions Also, an outline is included that shows which encounters are necessary. The players are presented with adventure The overall goal of the adventure is to find a choices. One must be completed before they may treasure that lies deep within the swamp. The progress further. party acquires an old map with a red X. Several † Encounter F – DarkRoot landmarks are noted on the map to help them Necessary. Party acquires a side quest and find their way through the swamp. Along the gains entry journey, they encounter all sorts of interesting † Encounter G – Kanthar the Troll creatures and obstacles. Potentially necessary to complete a side I hope you enjoy the adventure! quest.Sample file Now – go play D&D! † Encounter H – A Vile Smell - Jeff C. Stevens Potentially necessary to complete a side quest. INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 5 The Map Chapter 1: Into the The map is unimpressive and looks as if it had been drawn by a child. However, a successful DC Swamp 10 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals, however The players, having already acquired a map, childlike the drawings, there does seem to be an enter the swamp and follow the map to various exotic quality about the map. It isn’t drawn on destinations. parchment. It feels more like a very thin hide of some sort. The ink of the map is also different The Swamp and could be dried blood. General. The swamp is a foul-smelling place Running the Adventure that is not easily traversed. It should prove to be a task for the party to move around the swamp. Water Levels. The water levels of the swamp Text in textboxes is to be read to the players. I vary. The overview map shows the varying tend to be long winded when using descriptive depths of the water using different shades of grey text, but I want the DM to know the NPC and and black, with black being the deepest water. get a feeling for the situation. Feel free to Terrain. The swamp is filled with patches of summarize the descriptions if that is more your dry land but for the most part it is water and may DMing style. require the use of a boat in some areas. Most islands have a 5-foot-wide shoreline of 6-inch deep water. An adventurer traveling deeper into Text in orange boxes is for your information the swamp quickly finds the water rising, and and should not be read to the players. the muddy and mucky bottom creates Difficult Terrain. The grey sections of the swamp are 10-feet deep and the black sections are 20-feet The stat blocks for the creatures in this module deep. You may wish to familiarize yourself with can be found in the 5th Edition Monster the Swimming rules and Exhaustion rules on Manual or in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. pages 116 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide before running this adventure. Official Wizards of the Coast books referenced: Insects. Insects are a nuisance as they buzz MM = 5th edition Monster Manual around and bite (with no effect unless otherwise PHB = 5th edition Player’s Handbook noted). DMG = 5th edition Dungeon Master’s Guide Survival. Most of the wood and kindling in the VGtM = Volo’s Guide to Monsters swamp is damp. A character succeeding on a DC A Battle Stat Tracker is included for many of the 12 Wisdom (Survival) check finds dry wood. encounters. I include this to make preparation Travel. Certain areas of the swamp are not time easier for the DM. accessible. The deep waters of the swamp are over 20-feet-deep and are filled with horrible Unless otherwise noted, assume all NPCs have dangers. To convey this message to the PCs, you the stats of a commoner (MM, p 345). may mention that the deep waters swirl about savagely, or a large tail or fin is seen breaking Your players may not follow this adventure the the water’s surface, or a small creature falls from way it is written. Be prepared to be unprepared a tree and lands in the water. It treads water and have fun! Let your imagination fly. and swims for the shore as fast as it can, but suddenly the water rolls and boils around it and it disappears. Crafting. A character succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check can craft a raft for Samplethe party that holds together file for one-hour. On a result of 15 or higher the raft lasts for one day. INTO THE BELLY OF THE BEAST 6 Entering the Swamp The adventure begins while following the map to the various noted landmarks. Many changes to the area have occurred over the years and not all the landmarks are as they appear on the map. The first section of the map is current and the party travels along a raised section of land. A: The Lizardman Patrol The party travels 2-hours before the first encounter. You walk along a peninsula of sparsely vegetated ground. The dark waters of the swamp can be seen to your right and the shoreline is active with slithering snakes, crawling crabs, and other small creatures.