The adventure ahead
A 5e isekai campaign for two players. You awaken in the bodies of demi-humans in the world of Aetheria, where the Lattice—an invisible magical system—grants skills, stats, levels, and magic. You must survive, uncover why you were summoned, and stop a conspiracy that threatens to unravel the Lattice itself. This free preview contains Act I: The Brinewatch Conspiracy.
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You were ordinary people in your old world. Now you wake up in a medieval fantasy world, in new bodies: one of you is a shark demi-human, the other a cheetah demi-human. A translucent interface called the Lattice hovers at the edge of your vision, showing your stats, skills, and levels. You have been pulled into Brinewatch, a bustling port city, during the Tidefall Festival. But something is wrong: people are vanishing, and the city guard is covering it up. You must learn to use your new abilities, find allies, and survive long enough to uncover who brought you here—and why.
Behind the screen
Act I introduces the players to the world, the Lattice system, and the port city of Brinewatch. They arrive during the Tidefall Festival, discover their new abilities, and are drawn into a mystery: demi-humans are disappearing. The trail leads to Magistrate Veyra Sorn, a charismatic official who is secretly harvesting anima to power a ritual for her unseen master, the Hollow Archivist. The act ends with the players confronting Veyra in the Undercity, disrupting the ritual, and finding a sigil that points to a larger conspiracy. The players should reach level 3.
Hook 01
Lira, a young mouse demi-human, approaches the shark and cheetah demi-humans after the Tidefall Festival. She clutches a cracked locket and begs them to find her brother, who vanished three nights ago after speaking with a golden-keyed stranger. She has overheard the kidnappers mention the Undercity and the Gilded Warden.
Hook 02
Old Marrow, a retired adventurer and barkeep at the Drowned Rat, notices the new Lattice-Bound outsiders. He warns them that demi-humans have been disappearing since the Magistrate's private collection grew, and offers a map to the Undercity if they prove they are not with Veyra Sorn.
The players arrive in Brinewatch during the Tidefall Festival. They discover the Lattice, make allies, and investigate disappearances of demi-humans. The trail leads to Magistrate Veyra Sorn, who is using a hidden operation in the Undercity to harvest anima. The players confront her, disrupt the ritual, and learn of the Hollow Archivist.
Read aloud
You gasp awake on wet cobblestones, the smell of salt and fried fish filling your nostrils. A crowd of animal-eared people in medieval garb swirls around you. A translucent blue panel flickers in your vision: 'Welcome, Lattice-Bound. Status: Unranked. Skills: Pending.' A horn sounds, and fireworks burst over the harbor. You have no memory of how you got here—only that you are not in your old body.
Introduce the Lattice. Each player describes their new body. They have basic gear. The festival is lively but tense. A pickpocket tries to steal from them. Use this to teach ability checks. The villain Veyra Sorn is giving a speech on a balcony, promising prosperity. She notices them briefly.
Read aloud
The tavern is built into a half-sunken ship. Lanterns sway, and the floor is slick with seawater. Lira, a mouse demi-human, clutches a locket. 'My brother was taken three nights ago. The guard said he left town, but he would never leave me. I heard the kidnappers mention the Undercity and a 'Gilded Warden.' Please, you're Lattice-Bound—you can help.'
The tavern is a hub for information. The barkeep, Old Marrow, is a retired adventurer. He explains the Lattice: skills, stats, levels, magic. He warns that demi-humans are being targeted. A group of thugs working for Veyra arrive to intimidate Lira. Combat encounter: 3 Thugs. If players win, they find a note with a symbol of a golden key.
Read aloud
The tunnel is cold and dripping. Bioluminescent fungi cast a sickly green glow. You hear chanting echoing from deeper in. The walls are etched with runes that pulse in time with your heartbeat. A faint interface message appears: 'Quest Updated: Find the Source of the Disappearances.'
This is a dungeon crawl. Use SRD monsters: 2 Giant Rats, 1 Swarm of Rats, 4 Cultists guarding the ritual. The cultists are Veyra's agents. They wear golden key amulets. The players can sneak or fight. They find cells with missing demi-humans, including Lira's brother, alive but weak. A ritual chamber lies ahead.
Read aloud
The chamber is a vast cavern lit by a floating golden key the size of a door. Chained demi-humans kneel in a circle, their anima streaming as golden light into the key. Magistrate Veyra Sorn stands before it, her robes immaculate. 'Ah, the new Lattice-Bound. You are stronger than the others. Your anima will open the way for the Archivist.' She raises a hand, and golden chains lash out.
Boss fight. Veyra is a villain character; use her forthcoming character sheet. For now, describe her as a spellcaster with golden magic, using charm and force effects. She is accompanied by 2 Thugs and 1 Cult Fanatic. The players can free the prisoners to gain allies. The ritual can be disrupted by destroying the golden key (AC 15, 30 HP, immune to poison/psychic). If the key is destroyed, Veyra flees or is defeated. She drops a sigil of the Hollow Archivist—a black spiral with an eye. The prisoners are saved. The city guard arrives, but Veyra's influence is broken.
Milestone: The players reach level 3 and gain the Lattice-Touched boon, allowing them to sense planar disturbances.
Magistrate Veyra Sorn, the Gilded Warden
Magistrate Veyra Sorn, called the Gilded Warden behind closed doors, is the public face of Brinewatch's law and its most dangerous predator…
Free campaign generations include one villain sheet. Additional villain, NPC, and player-facing module character sheets are available in premium campaigns.
Subscribe NowFree campaign encounters use official monster sheets, plus the campaign villain character when referenced. They do not include generated custom monster sheets. Subscribe to create custom campaign monsters and enemy stat blocks.
Subscribe NowVeyra believes the Lattice is a divine cage that limits mortal potential. She serves the Hollow Archivist in exchange for forbidden knowledge and the promise of a world where she can rewrite her own fate. She also craves control over Brinewatch's growing demi-human population.
Polished, patient, and cruelly pragmatic. Veyra presents herself as a benefactor of the city, funding festivals and orphanages while quietly selecting victims. She treats violence as a ledger entry, not a pleasure. She is easily annoyed by improvisation and will retreat to preserve her usefulness to the Archivist.
Veyra uses her forthcoming villain character sheet. She begins combat by using charm and compulsion effects to turn the shark demi-human against the cheetah demi-human or to force a prisoner to serve as a shield. She then uses golden chains and force magic to restrain the fastest opponent. She keeps at least one thug between herself and melee attackers, and she targets weakened characters to drain anima for temporary hit points. If the golden key is destroyed or she is reduced below half her hit points, she flees through a hidden passage rather than die for the Archivist.
If defeated, Veyra is captured or forced to flee. A captured Veyra can be interrogated to reveal the three anchors: Brinewatch, the Sunken Library, and the Ashen Peaks. She refuses redemption unless the players prove the Hollow Archivist has betrayed her, in which case she may become a bitter informant. If she escapes, she becomes a recurring rival who reports the players to the Archivist.
Recommended party: 2 characters: one shark demi-human (frontline bruiser or coastal druid/ranger), one cheetah demi-human (rogue/monk/ranger). Balanced with healing or support magic recommended.
Before play, discuss safety tools and expectations for an isekai campaign with body transformation. The two players choose whether they were friends, strangers, or rivals in their old world. They wake in new bodies: one shark demi-human and one cheetah demi-human. Explain the Lattice as an in-world interface that tracks stats, skills, levels, and quests. Start at level 1 and use milestone advancement. The players should decide how their characters feel about being summoned and whether they trust the Lattice.
For a two-player party, keep enemy counts low and use terrain to give the players advantages. At level 1, reduce thugs to 2 and cultists to 3. At level 2, add one Bandit or one Cultist if the players are winning too easily. At level 3, Veyra should be a solo boss with two Thugs and one Cult Fanatic; if the party is wounded, remove one Thug and let prisoners break free after two rounds to help. Avoid using more than six enemy turns per round.
Act I should take three to four sessions. Session one introduces the Tidefall Festival, the Lattice, Lira, and the Drowned Rat ambush. Session two covers the Undercity Tunnels and rescuing prisoners. Session three is the ritual chamber and Veyra Sorn. The Lattice can display quest updates, skill prompts, and level-up notifications, but it never gives free answers. Use Old Marrow as a quest giver and Lira as a recurring ally. Foreshadow the Hollow Archivist through whispers, sigils, and Veyra's journal. End Act I with the players at level 3, the Lattice-Touched boon, and the knowledge that three anchors must be found.
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Magistrate Veyra Sorn, the Gilded Warden
Magistrate Veyra Sorn, called the Gilded Warden behind closed doors, is the public face of Brinewatch's law and its most dangerous predator…
Free campaign generations include one villain sheet. Additional villain, NPC, and player-facing module character sheets are available in premium campaigns.
Subscribe NowFree campaign encounters use official monster sheets, plus the campaign villain character when referenced. They do not include generated custom monster sheets. Subscribe to create custom campaign monsters and enemy stat blocks.
Subscribe NowVeyra believes the Lattice is a divine cage that limits mortal potential. She serves the Hollow Archivist in exchange for forbidden knowledge and the promise of a world where she can rewrite her own fate. She also craves control over Brinewatch's growing demi-human population.
Polished, patient, and cruelly pragmatic. Veyra presents herself as a benefactor of the city, funding festivals and orphanages while quietly selecting victims. She treats violence as a ledger entry, not a pleasure. She is easily annoyed by improvisation and will retreat to preserve her usefulness to the Archivist.
Veyra uses her forthcoming villain character sheet. She begins combat by using charm and compulsion effects to turn the shark demi-human against the cheetah demi-human or to force a prisoner to serve as a shield. She then uses golden chains and force magic to restrain the fastest opponent. She keeps at least one thug between herself and melee attackers, and she targets weakened characters to drain anima for temporary hit points. If the golden key is destroyed or she is reduced below half her hit points, she flees through a hidden passage rather than die for the Archivist.
If defeated, Veyra is captured or forced to flee. A captured Veyra can be interrogated to reveal the three anchors: Brinewatch, the Sunken Library, and the Ashen Peaks. She refuses redemption unless the players prove the Hollow Archivist has betrayed her, in which case she may become a bitter informant. If she escapes, she becomes a recurring rival who reports the players to the Archivist.
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Suggested Level: 1
Slick seawater floor, overturned tables that provide half cover, a crowded tavern common room, and a hidden trapdoor behind the bar.
A note bearing a golden key symbol, 15 gold pieces split among the thugs, and a potion of healing given by Old Marrow after the fight.
This is the first combat encounter. Use the thugs to demonstrate the Lattice's combat interface: initiative, hit points, and skill prompts. If the players avoid combat with a successful Charisma (Intimidation) check, the thugs leave but return later in the Undercity.
Suggested Level: 1-2
Bioluminescent fungi, shallow water that counts as difficult terrain, narrow stone corridors, a pressure plate trap, and locked prison cells holding missing demi-humans.
A golden key amulet, a ledger listing shipments to the Undercity, 25 gold pieces, and a map of the Undercity with the ritual chamber marked.
This dungeon crawl sets the tone of the conspiracy. The cultists fight to delay rather than kill, hoping to warn Veyra. If the players free prisoners, Lira's brother can identify the ritual chamber and warn them about the golden key focus.
Suggested Level: 3
A floating golden key focus (AC 15, 30 HP, immune to poison and psychic damage), a circle of chained prisoners, golden runes on the floor, and shadowed ledges that provide cover.
The Sigil of the Hollow Archivist, Veyra's journal, 100 gold pieces in ritual components, and one of the Act I magic items embedded in the golden key.
Veyra uses her forthcoming villain character sheet. She is not an SRD monster. The ritual can be disrupted by destroying the golden key, freeing prisoners, or turning a cultist with Charisma (Persuasion). Veyra flees if the key is destroyed and she is below half her hit points.
Tidecaller's Shell
Completed
Hidden in a sea-chest beneath Old Marrow's trapdoor in the Drowned Rat Tavern.
Requires attunement by a creature that can breathe water or has a swim speed.
Gilded Key Amulet
Completed
Taken from a defeated Cultist in the Undercity Tunnels.
No attunement required; any creature can wear it and benefit from its magic.
Anima Siphon Shard
Completed
Embedded in the golden key ritual focus in the Undercity Ritual Chamber.
Requires attunement by a spellcaster or a creature with the Lattice-Touched boon.
