The Night You Came Back

  Fate has been changed in the Irewood. The Staff of the Magi is in the collective hands of a wayward party allied with the insufferable Gnosferatu the Gnome Gnecromancer. What was once certain death, or eternal imprisonment, for a young boy in the eyestalks of a particularly ugly beholder has now turned into a fighting chance against an aberration of twisted creation.  

A Nightmare Under Dead Magus Inn Part II is a Creature Horror Campaign

  The campaign is themed with old creature horror in mind. Expect strange abominations, wacky experiments, and playing an intense game of warlock's chess with a monster whose intellect is unrivaled by any mortal creature.  

Enter if you dare. For beneath the Dead Magus Inn is a dimension of terror all its own.

 

All the pieces of the warlock's chessboard are set.

  Patrons of the Dead Magus Inn have returned with the inn's grand reopening; the Staff of the Magi is in the hands of a formidable student of the Necropolis of Knowledge; Gnosferatu remains hard at work on making much needed repairs to the G.S.S. Gnostromo; Nuledzig golems and laborers are hard at work on a powerful wizard tower to curb the threat of the orcish war parties; Dorn Il-Khan breaks landfall in the Irewood, ravaging a port town overnight; the Galvani Trade Empire is making a fortune off selling to the rising fears of Dunwich citizens and Dunwich remains without any standing military against the forces of evil.   The last thing this place needs is a beholder causing a ruckus.    

The Plot (Meat) Hook

  A young boy needs saving under the Dead Magus Inn. A lair full of untold treasures and potential power await just beneath the single-eyed gaze of its aberration master. Perhaps what is found could aid in Dunwich's defense? Perhaps you seek treasure all for your own? Perhaps you do this just to save an innocent life? Do you just really hate beholders?   Whatever your excuse, Dunwich's paranormal investigation agency has made an agreement with you, the surviving members of the Dunwich Hospital Massacre by the hands of Dr. Slice. In your self appointed attempt at establishing allies with the Dunwich investigatory agency, a deal was struck: find Dr. Slice, end whatever terrible experiments he seeks to create with the beholder, and return him alive. Should you complete this task (and survive), your group will be rewarded with an open contract of cooperation with the agency. And a spellmobile. A car. It's a car. You get to drive a car in D&D.   Additionally, Orlos Elvenbeard, the supposed leader at the Necropolis of Knowledge and master of divine magics, has requested that you retrieve the beholder's eye. He claims that the eye will be the perfect source of power to be utilized by the new wizard tower in construction. "You may kill the beholder," Orlos says, "Do whatever you wish to the aberration. Just ensure that his singular great eye remains intact. Do this, and we can begin the magical defense against Dorn Il-Khan's war party."    

The Setup

  A Nightmare Under Dead Magus Inn Part II: The Night You Came Back is intended for 4-6 players for levels 8-12. Sessions will take place each Thursday (or Friday) night depending on player preference. This campaign is intended to be very, very difficult -- both in combat and in playing with the environment. There are very real encounters in the dungeon where characters can be killed, maimed, disfigured or utterly changed. The term "encounter" not limited to combat/fights.   The campaign is intended to take between 3-6 sessions. Please ensure that when signups begin you make a very real attempt at making all sessions on time. Replacement players/characters will not be added throughout this campaign.   There is interest from new player(s) wishing to play for this campaign. If you believe you can not reliably make the sessions on Thursday night, you may think of giving up your spot to give to them.   The start date is not decided yet. Your Dungeon Master needs to find a place to live first. If it is after October, please save your Halloween decorations in a box so you can put them up in your room when the campaign starts. We demand maximum spook levels for total immersion.   A handout will be given to the party on a chosen night before the campaign begins so that you can spend some of that well earned gold before you arrive at the Dead Magus Inn.  

Added house rules for this campaign:

  You may cast a spell as an action AND cast a bonus action spell of 2nd level or lower in the same turn.   Short rests can be completed in 30 minutes, down from an hour. You may still wish to take a rest for an hour if you wish.   Martial classes may use their strength bonus in an intimidation roll instead of charisma.   Drinking a potion can be considered a bonus action. You can drink a potion as an action, and drink a potion as a bonus action as long as they are not the same type of potion (can not both be healing potions). This encourages using some of those other potions you guys have found.   Resurrection, even the sort cast just under a minute after death, can have adverse reactions.   Bonuses can be gifted from the DM if a player makes an active effort to keep the game immersive and fun.   Skill check criticals will be employed; failure or success. Additionally, criticals on successes or fails in response to SPELLS can see some interesting results.       *The Dungeon Master makes no guarantee that the character you enter the dungeon with makes it out alive, is the same character you walk out with, is not fireball spammed repeatedly, provides you with a twenty foot pole to trigger over a thousand floor plates riddled with traps, your brain devoured, or disintegrated by a beholder's eyestalk.