Missing at the Sluice Gate
A foreman’s crew vanished after reporting lights below the old floodworks. The town is offering coin to anyone brave enough to search the flooded tunnels.
Campaign Overview
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The Silt Vault Conspiracy
In a low marsh-town built around canals, old floodworks, and sinking stone, something beneath the waterline has begun to stir. Strange tides, missing workers, and whispering dreams point to a hidden vault sealed generations ago.
The party is drawn into a web of civic panic, smugglers, and forbidden excavation as someone tries to open what was meant to stay buried. Act I focuses on the first signs of the conspiracy: investigation in the town, a dangerous descent into the flood tunnels, and a confrontation with the agent who is trying to retrieve the vault key.
Tone
- Moody swamp mystery
- Pressure-cooker civic drama
- Ancient secrets and rising water
- Low-level survival horror with heroic beats
What the heroes will do
- Follow clues through a canal-side settlement
- Defend frightened townsfolk from nocturnal raiders
- Explore flooded passages beneath the old sluiceworks
- Stop the first attempt to unlock the buried vault
Player Handout
Welcome to Graymire Reach
Graymire Reach is a wet, leaning town of boardwalks, sluice gates, and half-sunken stone. For weeks, the rain has never quite stopped. Now boats go missing, workers vanish near the floodworks, and at night people hear singing under the water.
You begin with a simple problem: someone in town is paying for help, and the deeper you dig, the more the marsh seems to dig back.
Starting Hook
A town official, a dockside informant, or a worried relative asks you to investigate the disappearances around the old sluice gate before the next storm tide hits.
Free Act I Preview
The Silt Vault Conspiracy
Act I is an introductory mystery-adventure set in a canal town built on collapsing floodworks. The central pressure comes from a series of disappearances, damage to the sluice gate, and the recovery of a key fragment tied to an ancient sealed chamber below the town. Keep the pacing brisk: one social scene, one investigation scene, and one dungeon-combat scene. The villain should appear as a competent field agent rather than a final mastermind, leaving a bigger threat implied but not revealed.
Adventure Hooks
The Strange Key Fragment
A relic dealer, priest, or scholar recognizes a jade-and-brass key shard found in the mud and begs the party to keep it away from thieves.
Act Structure
Act I: The Floodworks Wake
Recommended level: 1-2The party investigates disappearances and sabotage in a marsh town built around failing sluices. Clues lead from the docks to flooded tunnels beneath the settlement, where a hired ritualist attempts to recover a key fragment and open a sealed chamber.
Objectives
- Uncover who is behind the disappearances
- Protect witnesses and gather clues
- Explore the old flood tunnels
- Stop the ritual at the sluice chamber
Boardwalk Trouble
Rain drums on the planks, lanterns sway in the wind, and the canal below reflects no stars at all. A shouted warning cuts through the night as shapes move between the cargo piles.
Open with tension and immediacy. The party sees the town’s danger firsthand and gets a fast lead into the broader mystery.
Checks
- DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) to notice the ambush before it begins
- DC 11 Charisma (Persuasion) to calm panicked dockworkers
- DC 12 Dexterity (Acrobatics) to move safely across slick planks
Clues
- The attackers were after a specific object, not valuables.
- They used a maintenance route into the lower works.
- One bandit bears a tunnel token marked with a gate symbol.
Transitions
- If the party wins, they can track the bandits to the flood hatch.
- If they chase instead, the trail leads directly to the old sluiceworks.
The Archives and the Flood Marks
Shelves rise like dark teeth above damp stone floors. Every map in the room has old water stains, and one set of records has been removed so recently the dust is still clean underneath.
This is the investigation scene. Let the party piece together the ritual history and identify the chamber beneath the town.
Checks
- DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) to connect missing records to the sluice gate
- DC 11 Wisdom (Insight) to tell a frightened clerk is hiding something
- DC 13 Intelligence (Religion or Arcana) to interpret the key fragment’s marks
Clues
- A sealed chamber lies below the central sluice.
- The town records show a hidden access shaft used generations ago.
- The key fragment matches an old emergency lock system.
Transitions
- The clues point to the old flood tunnels.
- A nervous clerk reveals the villain’s next meeting time.
The Sluice Chamber
The air turns cold and tastes of rust. Ahead, water surges against iron grates while a robed figure lifts a jade shard over the flood channel and begins to speak in a steady, practiced voice.
Run this as the climax of Act I. Use the flooded terrain to create movement choices and let the ritual feel urgent without needing a huge battle.
Checks
- DC 12 Strength (Athletics) to force a valve or gate
- DC 12 Dexterity (Acrobatics) to cross a swaying catwalk
- DC 13 Intelligence (Investigation) to disable part of the ritual setup
Clues
- The villain is only one part of a larger network.
- The vault below is not merely treasure; it is protected knowledge or power.
- A much older seal is failing beneath the chamber.
Transitions
- The party claims the key fragment or prevents its use.
- Surviving enemies reveal the next layer of the conspiracy.
Milestone: The party reaches level 2 after preventing the sluice chamber ritual or recovering the key fragment.
Villain Character Sheets
Veyl Thorne
Veyl Thorne is not a zealot, at least not in the way people prefer their villains. They do not rant, pray, or foam at the mouth about desti…
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Veyl Thorne Character Sheet
Motivation
Veyl believes the buried vault contains a device or archive that will restore power and leverage to those willing to exploit the town’s forgotten foundations. They are desperate to recover the key pieces before rival scavengers or the authorities can interfere.
Personality
Cool, precise, and impatient. Veyl speaks like a professional doing necessary work, not a fanatic. They never waste words and treat the party as an inconvenience that can become a problem.
Resources
- A small network of hired bandits and smugglers
- Access to hidden tunnel routes
- Minor ritual knowledge tied to the sealed vault
- Forged papers from the town archive
Battle Plan
Veyl avoids fair fights. They begin behind cover, order their allies forward, and use the environment to slow pursuit. If the tide turns, they trigger flooding, retreat through a prepared route, or bargain with information to buy time.
Defeat or Redemption
If captured, Veyl can be turned into a valuable witness against the larger conspiracy. If defeated, their notes point to a deeper patron and the next act of the campaign.
Running Notes
Recommended party: 3-5 characters
Session Zero
Discuss waterborne horror, loss of control, collapsing structures, and body-horror-adjacent imagery carefully. Use lines and veils for drowning, claustrophobia, and cult imagery. Establish whether the table wants investigation-heavy play, combat-forward play, or a mix. Remind players that Act I is about stopping a local threat before revealing a larger mystery.
Scaling Guidance
For 3-player or low-power groups, reduce enemy counts by one in each combat and make escape routes obvious. For 5-player or highly optimized groups, add one bandit to the first and last encounter, use more difficult terrain, and let the villain activate a flooding hazard after round 2. Avoid adding stronger monsters; use the environment instead.
DM Advice
Keep clues redundant: every important fact should appear in at least two places. Make the water feel like a pressure timer, not just scenery. Give the villain a clear plan and an escape route so the campaign can continue beyond Act I.
Secrets & Clues
- The floodworks were built atop an older sealed chamber.
- The key fragment is one of several parts.
- The hired attackers are being paid through shell accounts and false ledgers.
- The town archive intentionally removed records about the lower vault.
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Villain Character Sheets
Veyl Thorne
Veyl Thorne is not a zealot, at least not in the way people prefer their villains. They do not rant, pray, or foam at the mouth about desti…
Premium Campaign Feature
Free campaign generations include one villain sheet. Additional villain, NPC, and player-facing module character sheets are available in premium campaigns.
Subscribe NowMonsters & Enemies
Premium Campaign Feature
Free campaign encounters use official monsters only and do not include generated monster sheets. Subscribe to create custom campaign monsters and enemy stat blocks.
Subscribe NowVillain Plans
Veyl Thorne Character Sheet
Motivation
Veyl believes the buried vault contains a device or archive that will restore power and leverage to those willing to exploit the town’s forgotten foundations. They are desperate to recover the key pieces before rival scavengers or the authorities can interfere.
Personality
Cool, precise, and impatient. Veyl speaks like a professional doing necessary work, not a fanatic. They never waste words and treat the party as an inconvenience that can become a problem.
Resources
- A small network of hired bandits and smugglers
- Access to hidden tunnel routes
- Minor ritual knowledge tied to the sealed vault
- Forged papers from the town archive
Battle Plan
Veyl avoids fair fights. They begin behind cover, order their allies forward, and use the environment to slow pursuit. If the tide turns, they trigger flooding, retreat through a prepared route, or bargain with information to buy time.
Defeat or Redemption
If captured, Veyl can be turned into a valuable witness against the larger conspiracy. If defeated, their notes point to a deeper patron and the next act of the campaign.
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Encounters
Night Thieves on the Boardwalk
Suggested Level: 1-2
Masked thieves ambush the party on slick planks, trying to snatch clues or the key fragment before fleeing into the canal dark.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Narrow boardwalks over black water
- Mooring posts for partial cover
- Slippery planks in rain
- Canal edges count as difficult terrain when climbing
Treasure
A pouch with 12 gp, a mud-stained map scrap, and a brass tunnel token.
DM Notes
Use this as a chase-styled opener or a quick combat. If the party is smaller, reduce to 2 bandits.
Flood Tunnel Guardians
Encounter Builder
Moderate
Suggested Level: 1-2
Ancient defenses and scavengers clash in a submerged passage where broken masonry and rising water complicate every move.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Knee-deep water in the central passage
- Collapsed stone piles for cover
- Rusted grates that can be forced or climbed
- One section can be flooded to separate the battlefield
Treasure
A flooded niche contains a silver prayer disk worth 25 gp and a clue etched on stone.
DM Notes
The rats should harry casters and stragglers while skeletons hold the line. If needed, remove one skeleton.
The Sluice Chamber Ritual
Encounter Builder
High
Suggested Level: 2-3
At the gate chamber, the villain performs a hurried rite while hired muscle delays the party amid churning water, broken chains, and unstable masonry.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Cranked sluice controls that can change water levels
- Waist-high flooded areas
- Catwalks over a drainage shaft
- Falling debris on initiative count 20 if the chamber is damaged
Treasure
The jade key fragment, a signet ring from the town archives, and a scroll tube containing a partial vault map.
DM Notes
This is the Act I climax. If the party is struggling, have the fanatic attempt escape instead of fighting to the death. If they are strong, add 1 bandit.
Magic Items
Mudskipper Boots
Completed
Mudskipper Boots
Common
These waterproof boots let you ignore nonmagical difficult terrain caused by mud, shallow water, or slick stone while you are walking. They carry the scent of marsh reeds.
Location
Act I - Dock Ward evidence cache
Attunement
False
Lantern of Still Water
Completed
Lantern of Still Water
Uncommon
While lit, this hooded lantern calms small ripples in a 10-foot radius and reveals faint disturbances on the water’s surface, including hidden footprints and recent movement.
Location
Act I - Flood tunnels
Attunement
False
Jade Key Fragment
Completed
Jade Key Fragment
Uncommon
A broken brass-and-jade key shard that hums near old stone seals. When held, it grants a faint sense of direction toward sealed floodwork chambers.
Location
Act I - Sluice Chamber ritual site
Attunement
True: attunement by a creature who can cast at least one spell or has proficiency in Arcana
Player Characters
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