Wyvern Racing One Shot

An invitation is spread out all across Clearwen and surrounding villages. You may use this flyer as an appetizer to get your players excited for the one shot. Our party members each have their own reason to sign up and suddenly find themselves in a team of about five racers sharing one wyvern.

by pi_paints

Plot points/Scenes

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony is held in The Wyvern Racing Arena. During the opening ceremony of the wyvern races, Lady Rosine Zendrokh performs the raffle that determines which challenges will be faced during the races. An acrobatic performance by last year’s aerobatic champion, the Turbulent Trickers, is displayed. Sjef Yngve Otness declares the rules of the game.

The wyvern arena is filled with excitement as the crowd awaits the first rays of sun to emerge from the purple and orange clouds, colored by the sunrise. A collective cheer rises as the top seats are hit with light and you see a dwarf with an impressive beard braided with colorful beads take the stage. Sjef Yngve Otness addresses the crowd
"Welcome, people of Clearwen, the Otness Mountains and beyond. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the wyvern races in the year of the Kenku in the 73rd tred. The races in the coming three days are the official opening of the wyvern racing season. On the flyer you will find the scheduling details. I will quickly go over the main rules. These rules will be observed by the jury, located in the arena.
Rule number 1: No use of magic items during the challenge and baton race.
Rule number 2: No flying above the height of the snowline.
Rule number 3: Only wyverns whose poisonous stinger has been removed are allowed to participate."

You may let two of your players make an insight check.

<15	You know that the jury has no way of observing the backside of the mountain.
15+	And, that it is common for wyvern riders to bring magic items that will hinder their competitors.
20+	And, that some of the vendors at the festival market sell these items discretely.

Yngve continues his speech.
"During the non-aerobatic races, competitors will face challenges testing skills that are deemed valuable for a worthy wyvern rider. I now invite Lady Rosine Zendrokh to the stage for the ceremonious raffle of these challenge. They will be kept secret for the riders until right before they face the challenge."
A human woman enters the stage, in a long white dress that waves in the wind and takes over the hues from the sunrise. She raffles from four boxes, labeled Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Intelligence. From each box, she takes three pieces of parchment that are placed in boxes labelled Team Relay, Solo Races and Amateur Team Challenge. They are locked and brought to the jury.
"All that is left for me to do is wish you a great festival, enjoy the market, don't forget to visit the stables for a look behind the scenes and enjoy the Turbulent Trickers!"
His last words are hard to hear as a screeching sound emerges from beneath the mountain. Yngve raises his arms and turns around just in time to see five orange wyverns shoot up vertically in an arrow formation. The next twenty minutes are filled with amazing aerobatic maneuvers. The crowd cheers loudly at each one of them and the atmosphere is electric as the crowd flows out of the arena to explore the festival market.

The Festival

The market of the Wyvern Race festival is open all days of the festival. The party may return to this location any time during the one shot.

The smell of fresh twisted potato's and Drikkevar drifts towards you. Over the excited chatter from the crowd, you hear a bard playing a song in the distance. You see the people browsing market stalls and children begging their parents for souvenirs. A human woman is shouting in a harsh voice for people to place their bets.

Souvenir stall

If asked discretely, the vendor will open their robes and show you a selection of the items listed below.

One of the souvenir stalls sells an assortment of colorful wyvern miniatures, drawings of the winners and posters of the aerobatics team the Turbulent Trickers and of a dwarf riding a wyvern. The stall is manned by a balding human man wearing long robes.

150GP	Rider’s blues: blue object the size of an apple.	(3 available)
200GP	Dugrit's amulet: amulet with Dugrit's name written on it in luminiscent dwarven tokens.	(1 available)
100GP	Aviator goggles: leather goggles that fit any humanoid.	(2 available)

World of Tunoda

Rider's Blues

Weapon

Uncommon

When thrown, the Rider's Blues will travel in the same direction until it finds a large moving object. When a target has been acquired, the Rider's Blues will scan forward in a 30 degree cone to see if there is a next target within 120 feet. If a new target is found, it will continue to travel towards the next target and scan again. If a new target is not found, it will detonate. The amount of times a new scan is initiated is equal to 2d6.

Invented in Clearwen for sabotaging opponents during Wyvern races. It can be acquired on the black market.

Type	Damage	Damage	Range
Simple Ranged	10d4	Force	(2d6) 120 ft

Cost: 150GP
Weight: 0.5kg

World of Tunoda

Dugrit's amulet

Wondrous Item

Uncommon Requires Attunement

Can be attuned to humanoids and to flying creatures.

This stone amulet has several holes for attachment through a necklace or to the saddle of a flying creature. In the stone, the name Dugrit is engraved and the letters glow faintly when the wearer is airborn.

The flying speed of the wearer of this amulet is increased by 20ft.

Cost: 200GP

World of Tunoda

Aviator goggles

Wondrous Item

Varies

Not only do these goggles protect the wearer from insects in the air, they also enhance their vision. The wearer has advantage on perception checks for objects at least 25ft away and advantage on attack rolls if the target is at least 25ft away.

Cost: 100 GP

The bard

A bard is singing a song in the distance. If you are not comfortable singing this yourself, you can try to ask a player to prepare the song, or simply share the lyrics. The bard sings the song "The Wyvern Race" (music by Johnny Cash, lyrics original by the bard).

by Johnny Cash (original melody)

The bard is eager to tell of the legendary wyvern racer Dugrit Merryhide.

"Did you know about the legendary wyvern rider Dugrit Merryhide? Dugrit Merryhide was the world’s greatest wyvern rider. Him and his wyvern Crannu have won one of each of the races in Matonga, except the race in Clearwen. They hold the record for most wins during a lifetime.
Dugrit was last seen during a race where he and Crannu were in first place when they were violently assaulted and stung in with the poisonous tail of a competitive wyvern. The duo lost speed, Dugrit bleeding from his throat, Crannu with a broken wing, and dropped from the sky, right in front of the eyes of the crowds gathered in the arena. They were never found at the foot of the mountain. Legend goes that they flew into one of the cavern holes in the mountainside and died a poisonous death deep in the caverns. Many have ventured into the haunted caverns in search of the legendary duo, but to no avail.
One of the reasons of the success of Dugrit and Crannu was the Gjerde-forged saddle. Partly made from rare aeroresin, its design has never been matched. It was commissioned as a one of a kind weapon, so no blueprints exist. The only hope a competitive wyvern racer has to ever find such a perfect saddle, is to venture deep into the caverns under Clearwen.
My friend Carnira has a map that will help you on your way. You’ll have to look a little further than that, but I reckon it’s a great start to finding that mighty saddle. Let me tell you, with that saddle, your chances of winning will increase significantly. I would like to see some new folks win for a change, rather than those boring rich kids. They ask me to come and sing for them at their parties, and then they get so drunk they forget to tip you!"

Cartography stall

This stall is manned by Carnira Wayseeker.

A large minotaur stands behind a stall, slightly bending her back to look beneath the tarp. Her table is filled with maps. You recognize the shape of the continent Matonga on one of the map and the Otness Mountains on another.
"Are you competing? Then you might like this one."
She shows you a map of a system of caverns that you recognize as the caverns underneath Clearwen.
"This spot here marks the monument of the legendary Dugrit Merryhide, you know, the one the bard has been singing about all day. They say that his body, and the legendary saddle can be found in these caverns. No one has ever really found the exact location, but this here is the best starting point for your search. For me personally, it is too spooky in the caverns, but I wish you the best of luck."

(optional depending on time)

A key can be found and might be returned to the owner. The player with the highest passive perception will notice an old key on the ground with a label on it saying “stall 117”.

first visit: owner is there and looking for key. Last years winner, known to be rich. If they return the key gracefully they may be rewarded with gear.

second visit (if undetected first visit / did not give key): opportunity to break in and steal gear.

Finding out what the challenges are (optional) If you are running low on time, you may make it clear to the players that the security is way too good for them to sneak up to the box and have a peek at the challenges.

Search for the Saddle

To save time navigating the city of Clearwen, we switch to the next scene where our players visit the monument. The players will be faced with twelve y junctions, where they can choose to to left or right. At each choice, they will hear the humming of the line of a song, the same song that the bard was singing at festival. The ghost of Dugrit and Crannu roam these caverns in the hope to find a worthy competitor that can use the saddle to win the race in Clearwen. If the players succeed in doing this, Dugrit and Crannu are finally able to fully pass on to the ethereal plane. Since Dugrit's throat was hurt during the last race, all he can do is hum the melody of the song. If you look at the lyrics of the song, the first letter of each sentence is always an L or R. If the choices LLRRRLLRRLLL are made, the players will arrive at the saddle.

You have no trouble finding the location of the monument of Dugrit and Crannu using Carnira's map. The stone statue shows a wyvern, mounted by a dwarf. Other than the route you came, there is only a single passage from the monument. You follow the passage and find yourselves at a y junction.

Let the players investigate for a little bit before you tell them about the faint melody. At this point, you hum the first sentence of the song, but only once. This should be enough for the players to want to go left. It is not our goal to have them figure out the answer at the first y junction, but we also don't want them to get lost forever. You may let your players catch glimpses of a blue shining light, coming from Dugrit and Crannu's ghosts to lead them in the right direction.

You hear a faint melody coming from your left.

Repeat this for the first six y junctions. If at any moment the players figure out this is the song from the bard and try to remember the lyrics, you may share them. Either perform the song again, or simply share the text.

"Look at the sky today. Le the wind stroke your face. Ready your wyvern quick. Ride swiftly in the race.
Remember this memory. Launching flight with a blast. Loyal to your Clearwen. Racing the mountain pass.
Rain may come again soon. Longing for flight will start. Lonely you will wait for spring. Longing with all your heart."

Combat encounter

After some time, the players will discover where the rumors came from that the caverns are spooky. It is up to you when (or even if) this happens, but if you are using the provided map, you should have the encounter after an L in the junction. We propose an encounter with poltergeists (5e monster manual page 279), shadows (5e monster manual page 269) and wraiths (5e monster manual page 302), scaled to the level of your players. These monsters represent the bitterness of perished wyvern riders that came into these caverns to find the saddle, but were not deemed worthy by Dugrit's ghost to be guided towards it.

The Saddle

After venturing the last y junctions, the players encounter the skeletons of Dugrit and Crannu. They find valuable beard beads on Dugrit and Crannu's saddle. Dugrit and Crannu's ghosts come into the tunnel and, though Dugrit is unable to speak, he will communicate with the players that he allows them to take the saddle and hope they win the race.

World of Tunoda

Crannu's Saddle

Armor (Light)

Legendary Requires Attunement

Requires attunement by wyvern.

by pi_paints

This saddle was once worn by Crannu, and ridden by Dugrit Merryhide. This Gjerde forged saddle is infused with Aeroresin and adorned with runes that start glowing once the wearer is airborn.

• The wearer of this saddle has +2 AC.


• The rider and wyvern form a telepathic bond. All animal handling checks between the rider and wyvern have advantage.


• The strategic placement of the rider in the lightweight saddle increases the aerodynamic properties. The flying speed of the wyvern increases with 40 ft.


• The rider cannot be dismounted from the wyvern against their will.


• The saddlebag functions as a bag of holding. (when this item is first acquired, the bag of holding is filled with two potions of speed)

.

Type	AC	STR Req.	Stealth Dis.
Light	+2		No

The race

The mechanics of wyvern racing are in beta. Please share your thoughts and experience of running this one shot in the comment section. Ideas for challenges are very welcome.
The party is back just in time to have a long rest and wake up in time to report to the startline. See the article Wyvern Racing for more details.
The race track loops around the mountain and starts at field 1. Field 1 to 20 are regular racing fields that are out of sight of the public. Field 21 to 27 mark the challenge zone. Field 28 to 32 are observed and mark the zone where the rider change should happen (in the team relay, this is the baton change zone).
Mechanically, the race is played in rounds, where players riding their wyvern roll with a 1d6 and add their wyvern racing modifier (WR). To calculate WR, we look at the flying speed of the wyvern.

WR	Flying speed
0	under 70 ft.
1	70 ft. to 90 ft.
2	90ft. to 110 ft.
3	110 ft. to 130 ft.
4	over 130 ft.

Each round, the wyvern and rider advance 1d6+WR fields and a player may perform an action and bonus action like they normally would in combat. In between rounds, they may perform one reaction. Actions such as dash of spells with range "self" are not applicable to the wyvern and therefore useless in the race. It is up to your discretion what effects spells, magic items or attacks have on the race. We provide some examples below.

Spell/item/attack	In-race effect
Spell: haste	You move twice in one round
Force attack	If force damage, make a strength check to see if you are dismounted. For every point of damage higher than your constitution score, you lose one field of movement during your next turn (you may also move back on the track to keep the administration simple).
Rider's blues	When impacted with the rider's blues, you skip movement during your next turn.

Depending on the level and abilities of your players, you may wish to distribute similar abilities among their opponents. Perhaps some opponents have many Rider’s blues, others might be magic users and some could have brought along a crossbow.

The stables is where the race starts and where riders will be changed. It is important to do this quickly, or you might lose a turn. Let your players roll to solve minor problems during the change:

Skill	Changing problem
Strength	Your foot is stuck in the saddle, see if you can pull it lose.
Dexterity	Another rider just finished their change and are not paying attention to you as they are still fastening themselves to the saddle. Try to avoid a head-on collision.

The first rider of each team is expected to fly with their wyvern around the mountain once. The group of starting riders is accompanied by a judge along the race track to the starting line, which is a magically illuminated line in front of the Arena.
During the pre-race briefing, all rules will be repeated by one of the judges and a short description of the challenges will be read. This will give the teams some time to strategically choose their flying order. It just so happens to be that the number of challenges during the race is the exact number of players at your table. Challenges

Skill	Challenge
Strength. Best of 5 in 2v2.	An enormous wooden pole is lifted from the middle of the lake. You and the wyvern that arrived just before, or after you (depending if your number of arrival is even or odd) are each given the end of a 500 ft rope. The rope loops around the pole, while both you and your opponent try to fly forward. This is the wyvern-variant of a rope pulling contest. The first rider to make it to a second pole, 400 ft from the first, wins the challenge. 3 points for the winner of each duo.
Dexterity. Best in group	Various colors and shapes drift above the lake. Each contestant is assigned a color and shape, and must hit them out of the sky as quickly as possible. The ranking in this challenge is based on the time of completion.
Constitution	Attached to the large pole in the lake are parachutes. Each rider must attach one to their wyvern and drag it across to the second large pole. The ranking in this challenge is based on the time of completion.
Intelligence	Puzzle: The air in front of the arena is filled with 25 glowing circles, arranged in a 5 by 5 grid. Flying around the circles will result in crashing against an invisible wall. The only way to fly forward, is through the circles. But, the circles are portals, each linked with one other circle. If for instance, you fly through the upper left most circle, you will come flying out the bottom right circle, in the opposite direction. For the rider, this gives the illusion that the world has been mirrored since the arena was to the right of the rider upon entering the circle, and is on the left when leaving the circle. Of course, it is only the rider and wyvern who have been turned around by flying through the portal. If this does not come across properly, you can describe how the banners in the audience are still readable (which wouldn’t be the case if they had been mirrored because the letters would have been backwards). Solution: The circle on row i and column j is linked to the circle on row j and column i. Each time a wyvern flies through a circle, you can describe from which circle they emerge. It is only the middle circle that is linked to itself and provides passage to the other side. Scoring: The ranking in this challenge is based on the number of times the rider flies through the circles.

by pi_paints

Ranking	Points
1	8
2	6
3	4
4	2
5	1
6	0

The winner of the race is the team with the most points. For each wyvern that finishes, we count the number of squares between the wyvern and the location of the wyvern that is in last place. This is the number of points from the race. These are added to the points gathered from the challenges.

Awards ceremony

Lady Rosine Zendrokh awards all of the winners their trophy. If our party won, the crowd will gasp and point towards the air as the ghosts of Dugrit and Crannu fly out of the mountainside and ride into the sunset, free at last.

by pi_paints