Kassoon

No Prep Module: The Mummy Lord for D&D or RPGs

This adventure can be can be easily customized to a party of any size or level, or run as a level 10 adventure for 5 players. It can work as a small side adventure in an existing campaign, as a standalone one-shot, or the start of a new adventure. Use the links to the tools in their relevant section to customize the adventure to your party.

Mummy Lord

Background

A Mummy Lord has risen from a thousand year slumber deep within the tundra, awakening with it hordes of undead servants and the mummy's curse. The pharaoh's decayed mind has turn to frost in the new environment and has placed curses upon the countryside and ordered his undead servants to capture villagers and other hapless travelers in order to create a new undead empire.

During travel in the woods, a dryad speaks to the PCs from the trees and asks for their aid. A powerful guild of outlaws are working out of the woods, and the dryads desire a truce. If the PCs agree, the dryad will emerge and lead them to a secret dryad dinner party.

You come upon a shaded clearing in the woods, where a huge table is laid out with food, and many dryads are either seated or bustling about. The table is one large root from a tree emerging from the ground with a flat top, and all around it are smaller trees shaped into stools and chairs.

The food is vegetarian, but tastes like all manner of dishes, even barbecue meat. At dinner, the dryads can go into further detail. The dryads don't want the outlaws removed from the woods, since they tend to scare off travelers that do far more harm to the forest. Instead, the dryads want to broker a peace deal where the outlaws can stay if they respect the forest and leave its denizens be. They're scared to approach since the outlaws tend to attack anyone that comes near, but having heard of the fame and prowess of the PCs, they might fare better.

If the PCs agree to help, they can find the outlaw's hideout with a DC 14 Survival check, otherwise they'll be ambushed by outlaws and will need to talk or fight their way out of being robbed (if transitioning into the skill challenge, start them with one failure). Convincing the outlaws of the PC's peaceful intent and establishing a truce with the dryads is a skill challenge. On success, the outlaws agree to set up a meeting with a dryad, on failure the PCs are attacked:

1 Duergar Kavalrachni (CR: 2: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes p. 189), 2 Swashbuckler (CR: 3: Volo's Guide to Monsters p. 217), 4 Cult Fanatic (CR: 2: Monster Manual p. 345) (Medium, 730 XP each) [Customize]

Adventure Hooks

  • The well has turned black. Investigation will reveal it was caused by an ancient curse originating from the tundra.
  • If the PCs help the dryads they can encounter a lillend, who will tell them of a great treasure in the tundra if the PCs can impress her with their musical abilities.
  • Society of Salty Syndicate contacts the party and asks for their help.

If the PCs attempt to contact Society of Salty Syndicate then they will meet with Callybon Bafflestone who can tell them a bit about the curse affecting the environment, and how it seems to originate from undead creatures that crawl out of the tundra.

Callybon Bafflestone, Female Gnome

Description: She appears as an extremely gaunt Gnome, and stands approximately 3'5". She wears blue trousers with tan and black striped suspenders. She wears various colorful collared shirts, and her gloved hand is found clutching a rapier. Her hair is red, silky, and of moderate length. She wears a mask on her face.

Personality: She's a bit of a prankster. She knows she is clumsy and seen as such and will often feign amnesia after injury. She plays an instrument quite well.

History: She got into the Guard business at a young age. Since her father passed away years ago, her mother had doted on her, and she came to think her herself as special and better than other people in town. A notion that was reinforced by her attractiveness, a trait in which she easily excels the other women of her town. She has been saving her money to try and buy her brother's freedom.

Motivation:She wants nothing more than to rejoin the army; and to be a jeweler again

Voice: Adds syll-ab-les for em-pha-sis

When the PCs are ready, they can travel to the frigid tundra. The journey takes 6 days and they see there are massive crystal coral growths along the terrain.

Navigation DC 10, Foraging DC 20. The temperature is -7°C (20°F) at day -14°C (6°F) at night (requires cold weather protection). The weather is conjuration Storm. Everything is heavily obscured, tracks and flames are smothered. The party encounters 2 random creatures from a random environment or plane of existence.

Crumbling giant statues, covered with bioluminescent moss, perch atop arches. Everywhere you look, black clouds of flies dart about, hungry for blood.

A DC 10 Survival check will notice that the flies shouldn't be able to survive in such a harsh environment, and yet seem to be plentiful.

Dungeon

Dungeon Map

1

The ceiling soars 90 feet high in the corner of this splendid room, and the walls are chiseled with depictions of elves performing music. The floor is littered with frozen crates. Audible throughout the entire room is the sigh of a soft, cool breeze that rises toward the surface far above. Across the room, a set of double doors stands closed.

If the crates are freed from the ice and searched, they find 70 gp in trade goods [Customize]

There is a east path that leads to #2

2

Attached to the north wall are two torch sconces. The nearest one holds a torch with a complicated metal base. Frozen sickles, swords, decayed morningstars, and other ruined weapons are littered out across the floor, fallen from the empty bronze weapon racks that line the walls. Frosty lanterns sit in various places, and ice stalactites are draped haphazardly around the room. A dark archway leads out through the west wall. Across the room, an imposing door stands closed.

1 Specter (CR: 1: Monster Manual p. 279), 1 Revenant (CR: 5: Monster Manual p. 259), 1 Zombie Plague Spreader (CR: 4: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft pg 255) (Medium, 620 XP each) [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #1

In the south path is a locked door (DC 15), with a key on a nearby creature or furniture, that leads to #3

3

The stairs descend into dark, frozen water that fills an arched room before you. The water's surface is like glass, disturbed periodically by a bubble from beneath. snow covers the rocky floor, while suits of armor and helmets line the walls. Within this area lie antiquated catacombs, with arched ceilings supported by wide, hollow columns that double as crypts. Draped over one of the crypts are two dead outlaws of the same gang from the forest. Two short bronze doors exit to the east and north.

One of the dead outlaws within a crypt is holding a crystal that protects the holder from the mummy's frigid wind, but the crypt is also trapped.

In this room is a trap. An area is warded against unrecognized intruders, activating when a creature enters without the correct badge, amulet, etc. Entering without the item on their person, activates a rune of power, confusing the target and making a loud piercing howl that echoes through the dungeon.

Effect: Targets all creatures within 30 ft., DC 10 WIS save or become confused for 4 (1d4) rounds and causing the monsters of the dungeon to become alert

Trigger: entry, activates when a creature enters the area without the correct badge, amulet, etc.

Countermeasures: A spell or other effect that can sense the presence of magic, such as detect magic, reveals an aura of divination magic around the area. A successful dispel magic (DC 10) cast on the area destroys the trap.

Casting dispel magic (DC 10) will dispel the rune. [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #4

In the east path is an unlocked door that leads to #9

There is a north path that leads to #2

In the south path is a locked door (DC 15), with a key on a nearby creature or furniture, that leads to #8

4

Tall steps lead down into this brief room, where the air is dense with the smell of sulfur. On a table is a strange-looking arcane device. Frozen cobwebs hang limp in the musty air. Two gates stand opposite one another in the middle of the west wall and the east wall. A deep chasm splits this room in half as if by some great sundering, causing a corner of the room with a cabinet to be separated by a 25 foot gap.

In this room is an event. Receive 9d10 (40) healing but become cursed and unconscious for 2h, or fight a Medium encounter as the device triggers an alarm and summons monsters. Offered by a strange arcane device that's difficult to operate. [Customize]

Across a 25 ft gap, they find 130 sp, and 40 gp [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #5

There is a east path that leads to #3

5

Dice and scattered piles of cards litter the tabletops. A dozen cloaks with cowls hang on the walls from bronze hooks. A padded chair sits on the east wall between two gates. Modest pikes, scarred and beaten, lay strewn like toys about the room, their wood crushed and splintered. A ghostly apparition of an adventurer sits at the table, playing cards with no one in particular.

In this room is an event. Option to take 4d10 (24) damage to upgrade an item. Offered by a fellow adventurer seeking a friendly game of cards. [Customize]

One of the gambling chips on the table is a magical token, disguised with an illusion to look like a chip. If the PCs win the card game they'll receive it, otherwise detecting magic or the illusion can tip them off to its importance. When the token is brought to the path, it activates mechanisms that allow the elevator to move again at the green path.

In the east path is a locked door (DC 15), with a key on a nearby creature or furniture, that leads to #4

There is a south path that leads to #6

6

Glowing crystals illuminate this long, octagonal room with ash-paneled walls. Minerals glimmer softly in the eerie light. Carved into the ice of the wall are a set of glowing runes. An opening at the northern end of the room continues into a tunnel, from which a freezing wind moans. Beyond the room, the corridor turns back to rough granite and turns to the east.

In this room is an event. Duplicate an item. Offered by a wall covered in arcane runes that are dangerous to read. [Customize]

There is a east path that leads to #7

There is a north path that leads to #5

7

A narrow ridge watches over a deep, black chasm that chops the room in two. A dangerous-looking chain bridge, ragged and thin, reaches over the space. Frozen forges, looms, and other materials fill this room, most of it haphazard. The tunnel splits ahead, with one branch running east and the other continuing on to a lit room.

1 Lynx Creatlach (CR: 5: Infernal Machine Rebuild pg 54), 1 Banshee (CR: 4: Monster Manual p. 23), 1 Wight (CR: 3: Monster Manual p. 300) (Medium, 720 XP each) [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #6

In the east path is an unlocked door that leads to #8

8

The air here is freezing and smells of grease. Cleaned couches and suits of armor are scattered on the floor. Numerous boxes and barrels are choked with blasting powder, black powder, and other dangerously explosive materials. Bronze hooks line the walls, and a damp white cape hangs from one hook in the center of the west wall. A spectral knight kneels by the boxes, working with the dangerous materials. A short flight of stairs leads up to a long, iron-bound door. A skull is fixed to the center of the door by a bronze spike. Above a gate in the northern wall is mounted a beautiful enamel.

In this room is an event. Take 9d10 (57) to gain 2h Aid, or become cursed with ghostly chains that Restrain you for 2h if you refuse. Offered by an unhinged knight seeking revenge against the ghostly adventurer playing cards. [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #7

There is a north path that leads to #3

9

Doors open to display another set of double doors 30 feet ahead. Between these doors, a 35-foot-wide passageway stretches north to southeast. The west end of the room ends at a bronze door. Glass orbs sit perched on pedestals around the room. A lingering fog limits visibility to a few feet. Double doors of bronze stand closed to the north.

An object in this room releases, summons, or turns into a monster.

If the room is searched, they find 800 cp, 5000 sp, 2400 gp, 130 pp, Potion of invulnerability,

100 gp valuables (1300 gp total): Chrysoberyl (transparent yellow-green to pale green), Jade (translucent light green, deep green , or white), 3 Amber (transparent watery gold to rich gold), 2 Jet (opaque deep black), Garnet (transparent red, brown-green, or violet), 3 Amethyst (transparent deep purple), 2 Pearl (opaque lustrous white, yellow, and or pink) [Customize]

There is a west path that leads to #3

There is a north path that leads to #10

10

The crystal floor glows with light under each step you take. Directly across from the stained glass window stands a set of double doors in the north wall. An opening at the southern end of the room continues into a tunnel. Weird, beautiful flows and structures of ice grace the room and a frozen battering wind assaults you as you enter.

Within this room is battering winds that reduce speed by half and impose disadvantage on ranged attack rolls.

1 Undying Councilor (CR: 10: Eberron: Rising from the Last War), 1 Undead Cockatrice (CR: 1/2: The Orrery of the Wanderer) (Medium, 1,200 XP each) [Customize]

There is a north path that leads to #11

There is a south path that leads to #9

11

This room contains a square table surrounded by chairs and shelves of skins. Mounted on the west wall are three unlit oil lamps spaced ten feet apart. The stony floor is draped with more than a dozen bundles of dilapidated leather, smeared fabric scraps, and torn pillows that serve as beds. A lit hallway to the west contains an old elevator, which makes an irregular buzzing. Above a gate in the southern wall is mounted image.

In this room is A Shrieker (Basic Rules pg. 309)

In this room is a trap. A trigger is hidden within a treasure chest's lock, or in something else that a creature might open. Opening the chest without the proper key causes the dam farther up the corridor to break and unleashes a huge avalanche of snow that crashes down the corridor.

Effect: Initiative +2, moves 60 ft. in a straight line each turn. If it enters another creature's space, DC 11 DEX save or washed away by the rapid snow and smashed against the walls for 4 (2d10) bludgeoning damage

Trigger: lock trigger, activates when opened without the proper key.

Countermeasures: A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check allows a character to deduce the trap's presence from alterations made to the lock to accommodate the trigger. A successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools disarms the trap, removing the trigger from the lock. Unsuccessfully attempting to pick the lock triggers the trap.

Climbing the walls, running away to higher ground before the avalanche reaches them, or securely anchoring themselves will prevent the snow from carrying them away. [Customize]

In the west path (green) is a deactivated elevator with a slot for a token that leads to #12

There is a south path that leads to #10

12

The stone floor is smothered beneath a thick, rough tapestry. Torn and vandalized couches lie in heaps, disorderly and littered about. Deep stab marks cover the hardwood furniture, and the once lush upholstery has been sliced to shreds. Around the room are cages, filled with villagers encased in ice.

1 Mummy Lord (CR: 15: Monster Manual p. 229) (Hard, 2,600 XP each) [Customize]

In the east path (green) is a deactivated elevator that leads to #11

In the boss fight, all players within the wind get an effect that deals increasing ice damage (1 +1 each round) to them at the start of their turn that can be reset back to 0 by holding the crystal. Dealing ice damage to the boss heals it.

Resolution

With the Mummy Lord defeated, the curse and flow of undead from the tundra stops. Any curses affecting the PCs or nearby settlements vanish, and if the room is searched the PCs find 3,000 gp and an Ioun Stone of Insight

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