The Lady's Plea
A young woman approaches the party in a tavern, begging them to find her missing brother, who was last seen entering the abandoned Crescent Manor on a dare. She is overcome with grief and offers her few remaining coins.
Campaign Overview
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The adventurers are drawn to the abandoned Crescent Manor by a plea for help. Inside, they unravel a series of cryptic clues left behind by a troubled boy, leading them through twisted puzzles and guardian spirits, ultimately uncovering a hidden room where a dark and tragic secret lies. This is a short, self-contained mystery that introduces a local necromancer as the primary antagonist, leaving the party with hints of a larger evil.
Player Handout
A tattered, yellowed piece of parchment with a simple cipher and the words 'don't open the door' scribbled in the margin.
Free Act I Preview
The Crescent Manor Mystery
A level 1-2 adventure focused on mystery-solving, social interaction, and a final a climactic battle. The main thread is solving the mystery of a boy's disappearance and confronting the villain behind him.
Adventure Hooks
The Night of Ghastlies
The local tavern host regales party with rumors of strange lights and the faint sound of children singing a discordant 'Happy Birthday' at night from the abandoned manor. Frightened, no one will approach the place.
Act Structure
Gold of a Lie
Recommended level: 1-2The adventure begins as the characters enter from near the hunting of Richard. The boy has disappeared, sent to all the secrets in the manor under the pretense of a birthday. They find clues: a torn, faded birthday invitation, a broken locket with a portrait of a young woman, and eventually a ghast. Gathering the puzzle, they enter the crypt and the hide a ghost protector.
Objectives
- Get into the mansion
- Find any sign of Richard
- Deliver the clue
- Defeat the specter and the spirit in the house.
The Little No
The house is a skeletal silhouette against a swollen orange moon. The air is cold, and the door sways back and forth, its hinges screaming like a haunted swing.
The players should be encouraged to make an Investigation (Investigation) check and are perhaps Observer: DC 13 to get a clue of scuff marks leading to the manor. Sound is killed: no bird
Checks
- Investigation (Intelligence) for the way.
- Perception (Wisdom) to hear the faint sound
Clues
- A lost invitation to a 10th birthday with the manor, but the leather is smooth the written side.
Transitions
- 79: the door opens.
- 50%:
- 30: A ghast steps from the shadow.
The Door of the Drowned
You step in, and the ground groans. A crumbling door is visible on the far side of the main hall, scrapes and coughs. Nearby, a grandiose staircase splits to either the east and west.
Exploring the foyer will trigger a Dexterity Saving Throw (DC 12) to avoid a a collapsing chandelier. Under the chandelier, they discover a photograph of a boy and a mystery figure who is *not* the mother.
Checks
- Leaving a memory: Signing a birthday card in the foyer will cause the key to open a chest.
- Locating the queer music provide not stronger.
Clues
- In the claret.
- The war,
Transitions
- After the clue, the exit is found, they step in to the upstairs.
The Cheating
A parade of mirrors lines the wall. You see your reflections, but one image is older, cooler sin and holding a candle.
This is an empty hall. The riddle is that a small, rectangular door is hidden behind the false mirror and has the name 'Cara' written upon it.
Checks
- Perception DC 13 - hint that make additional underneath.
- Water Source: you know that the door is the opening to a dream which is the 10 birthday.
Clues
- The letter
- Reward the birthday cake note
Transitions
- After solving, the stairs drop to the ghost exposure.
A Time to Celebrate the Puzzle
Behind the mirror, a narrow stone stair descends into a small crypt. On the floor are a many candles and written a phrase on a pillar: [Speak and It Shall](no) - thing.
These are natural and stone-empty. A door is there with a sundial. The hint asks the player to give a birthday greeting in a cheerful, happy tone.
Checks
- A 'Happy Birthday' text. Make a DC 10 Performance check, or Wisdom (Insight) to judge the happy
Clues
- The band is a child's toy:
Transitions
- The door slides open, revealing a hidden staircase.
Milestone: Put it together: complete 1+1 to RPG standard.
Villain Character Sheets
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is the lingering mouth of Crescent Manor’s grief: an undead servant preserved by obsession, magic, and the stubborn refusal t…
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The Caretaker Character Sheet
Motivation
He is luring the boy Richard to a hidden reality to 'open the gate'.
Personality
It has deep purple skin and leather-like scales, and a desperate and single-minded ambition.
Resources
- The mummy shape is shadowing,
- starts with power drain
- Also the exhaust needs to complete
Battle Plan
Appears when party is at peace and a powerful spell to 'Gaze. He claims he is trapped by the spirit you are trying to
Defeat or Redemption
The villain can be retired is to be trapped in a vault, the search to pass, but his soul is bound to the house. Redemption if party destroys the 'On the master's skull'.
Running Notes
Recommended party: 3-5 adventurers of 1st level. Classes that excel in investigation or social interaction will shine, but combat is also present.
Session Zero
A brief overview of how they arrive at the village, the hooks. Time is always day at the village but at the manor it's the night,
Scaling Guidance
The adventure is for level 1. If the party overpowers the encounters, use the xp to advance the party to level 2 and then add a single specter.
DM Advice
I want to be careful, make the happy birthday caught vibe, not silly. Try to frame as the last vestige of the boy's memory and be sad.
Secrets & Clues
- - The villain’s plan has been foreshadowed: the ghost is named 'Willie,' the boy that is trapped. His goal is to fuse heart and soul.
- - The crypt's note hints at a larger evil: mentions; 'When the storm gets in, feed the emerging.
- - Inside Richard's room, a torn page speaks of a distant `lament` that is miles away.
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Villain Character Sheets
The Caretaker
The Caretaker is the lingering mouth of Crescent Manor’s grief: an undead servant preserved by obsession, magic, and the stubborn refusal t…
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
The Caretaker Character Sheet
Motivation
He is luring the boy Richard to a hidden reality to 'open the gate'.
Personality
It has deep purple skin and leather-like scales, and a desperate and single-minded ambition.
Resources
- The mummy shape is shadowing,
- starts with power drain
- Also the exhaust needs to complete
Battle Plan
Appears when party is at peace and a powerful spell to 'Gaze. He claims he is trapped by the spirit you are trying to
Defeat or Redemption
The villain can be retired is to be trapped in a vault, the search to pass, but his soul is bound to the house. Redemption if party destroys the 'On the master's skull'.
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Encounters
Whispering Wraiths
Suggested Level: 1-2
As the party explores the south wing, the air grows cold and the shadows coalesce into the form of a young boy's caretaker. The specter, its mind twisted by the villain, now attacks any who approach the door.
Creatures
Terrain Features
The room is a dusty bedroom. A heavy, locked chest Restrain anyone who fails to move. The ghost is enraged by the word 'birthday'.
Treasure
2 Magic Missile (special scroll, but mechanically functions as Magic Missile) stored in a locket
DM Notes
Gives the party a hint that a 'caretaker' is behind the neglect of the house.
Charge of the Spurned
Encounter Builder
Moderate
Suggested Level: 1-2
A spectral, oversized hound guards the hallway that leads to the library. Its fur is the color of moonlight and burns with ethereal flames.
Creatures
Terrain Features
The hall is lined with portraits that watch the player and all spontaneous fire extinguishes without a trace.
Treasure
A Silvered Shortsword (common) found discarded in old armor
DM Notes
The dog only responds to aggression; it may be calmed by throwing meat and bones.
Magic Items
Wand of Magic Missiles
Completed
Wand of Magic Missiles
Uncommon
A +1 magic wand that is found on the ghostly caretaker. When found, it has 7 charges and regains 1d4 + 1 charges each dawn.
Location
On the Ghost in the initial Ghast encounter.
Attunement
none
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Onyx Dog)
Completed
Figurine of Wondrous Power (Onyx Dog)
Rare
A small onyx carving of a dog. When you use an action to speak the command word and throw the figurine to the floor, it becomes a Guard Dog that appears and is friendly to you and cannot be harmed until it has been reduced to 0 hit points.
Location
The Crypt (Mummy)
Attunement
No
Glimmering Pendant
Completed
Glimmering Pendant
Common
A commonly used item for decoration that houses one use of 'Cure Wounds' (2d4+2) as an action, made by the boy Richard. Once used, turns black. Nothing more.
Location
In Richard's room
Attunement
No
Player Characters
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