Ingenious Eccentrics

Most artificers start their work in a craftsman’s trade or as a scholar, only to discover some idea or problem yet to be overcome that sparks their fascination with science. Although the marvels in their workshops sometimes explode or otherwise cause hazard, artificers are often regarded quite highly due to their skills. Technology is not always welcome however, and occasionally artificers need to work in secret—especially if their pursuits are unsavory or morally gray, or if their inventions are making other work obsolete—but their march of progress is the highest priority, the consequences be damned. 

Wizarding schools often accuse artificers of “faking magic”, but in reality they are harnessing the very same arcana through physical laws rather than ancient rote. Where a mage chants magic words invoking old forgotten pacts the artificer grasps upon magic and drives it into reality. Each of their spell inventions is a marvel and the devices of the most elite practitioners are so superlative that in the hands of even a commoner magic does as it is bid. Such a thing is troubling to say the least and mutterings of “banning fake magic” drift among the halls of prestigious magical colleges. 

Scientific Inquiry

While a great many artificers would like nothing more than to be left alone to their research, experiments take money and the answers they seek are frequently found outside of a laboratory. Adventuring solves both problems for them, providing lucrative opportunities for funding their research and far-off locales where they might find the answers to puzzles both new and ancient.

Alternatively, sometimes the artificer’s answers lie at the bottom of a dungeon or other dangerous locale, and joining up with an adventuring guild is the most logical means to reach it alive. 

Creating an Artificer

When creating an artificer it’s important to determine what drives them. Is there some specific goal they’re working towards, or are they gaining knowledge and skill for its own sake? Their work is dangerous (doubly so when adventuring) so why do they take these risks? Is there a mentor they want to make proud or a rival that they must outdo? Is there a pinnacle of their field that they’re working towards?

What about the dangers that lie outside their laboratory? Are they wide-eyed and optimistic about their upcoming adventures, or are utterly unconcerned and focused solely on their research? Is there some personal objective or great good they hope their study will fulfill? Or are they solely concerned with the money or power that could come with it?

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Field Discoveries	Infusion Limit	Cantrips  Known	Spells Prepared	Maximum  Spell Level
1st	+2	Artificial Spellcasting, Craftsman, Tactical Chemistry	_	_	2	2	1st
2nd	+2	Field Discoveries, Schematics	1	2	2	2	1st
3rd	+2	Artificer Archetype	1	3	2	2	1st
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement, Omnitools	2	3	3	2	1st
5th	+3	Archetype Feature	2	3	3	2	2nd
6th	+3	Battlefield Smithing	2	4	3	3	2nd
7th	+3	Intellectual Calibur	3	4	3	3	2nd
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	3	4	3	3	2nd
9th	+4	Archetype Feature, Advanced Tactical Chemistry	3	4	3	3	3rd
10th	+4	Trinket Master	4	5	4	4	3rd
11th	+4	Reliable Spell Inventions	4	5	4	4	3rd
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	4	5	4	4	3rd
13th	+5	Marvel of Innovation	5	5	4	4	4th
14th	+5	Technological Attunement	5	6	4	5	4th
15th	+5	Archetype Feature	5	6	4	5	4th
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	6	6	4	5	4th
17th	+6	Hotfixer	6	6	4	5	5th
18th	+6	Infusion Recharge	6	7	4	6	5th
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	7	7	4	6	5th
20th	+6	Laboratory of the Master	7	7	4	6	5th

Multiclassing Prerequisites: Intelligence 13

Multiclassing Proficiencies: Engineering, tinker’s tools

For the purposes of the Vigilante feat, 3 artificer levels can be taken in place of either the adept or ranger level prerequisites.
 

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CLASS FEATURES

As an artificer, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per artificer level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per artificer level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields

Weapons: Simple weapons, darts, geared slingshots, hand crossbows, heavy crossbows, light crossbows, light hammers, throwing daggers

Tools: Thieves' tools, tinker's tools, one type of artisan's tools or smith’s tools

Saving Throws: Constitution, Intelligence

Skills: Engineering, and choose three from Arcana, Culture, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Sleight of Hand

Equipment

You begin the game with 180 gold which you can spend on your character’s starting weapons, armor, and adventuring gear. You can select your own gear or choose one of the following equipment packages. Also consult the Suggested Equipment section of your chosen background. 

• Blacksmith’s Package (cost 158 gold): Mace, scale mail, heavy shield, acid (vial), chain (10 feet), dungeoneer’s pack, portable ram, sledgehammer, smith’s tools, whetstone.
• Locksmith’s Package (cost 160 gold): Dagger, 2 throwing daggers, leather brigandine, acid (vial), burglar’s pack, caltrops (bag of 20), lock, steel mirror, thieves’ tools, tinker’s tools. 
• Scientist’s Package (cost 173 gold): Light crossbow and quiver with 20 bolts, 2 light hammers, leather brigandine, abacus, alchemist’s supplies, ball bearings (bag of 1,000), 10 pieces of chalk, common clothes, healer’s satchel, lantern (standard), merchant’s scale, oil flask, scholar’s pack. 

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Artificial Spellcasting

With ingenuity and knowhow, artificers are able to harness magic through technology. See Chapter 11: Spellcasting in the Adventurer’s Guide for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the Artificer spell list.

Spell Inventions

Whenever you prepare an artificer spell, you create a spell invention for that spell using your tools of artifice and whatever materials you have on hand.  

A spell invention is a unique experimental device that is esoteric and useless to other creatures, but in your hands can be used to cast the spell it was prepared for. You prepare a number of spells with a spell level no higher than your maximum spell level (both as shown on the Artificer table) chosen from the artificer spell list.

You can change your list of prepared spells and replace or create new spell inventions whenever you finish a long rest by spending at least 10 minutes tinkering and experimenting with 1 gold worth of materials per new spell invention (in addition to any material components the spell requires). Any spell inventions you’ve prepared previously are taken apart and integrated into the new ones, or fall apart due to a lack of maintenance. You can only have a maximum of 1 spell invention per spell you have prepared. 

You do not have spell slots, and instead utilize your spell inventions to cast spells. Whenever you cast a prepared artificer spell using a spell invention, you may cast it at a spell slot level up to your maximum spell level as shown on the Artificer table.

You may freely draw a spell invention from your inventory as part of the same action used to cast a spell through it, and you may also freely stow any spell inventions you were already wielding using that same action.  

Using a spell invention does not remove its spell from your list of prepared spells.

You can determine the exact form a spell invention takes but it weighs 1 pound per spell level, is no longer than 1 foot in any dimension, and it must be wielded in at least one hand to be used (treat cantrips as 1st-level spells). A spell invention has an AC equal to 10 + your Intelligence modifier, and a number of hit points equal to your artificer level × 2. You can fully repair your spell inventions whenever you finish a long rest, so long as you have access to your tools of artifice. 

Fizzle Die. After you cast a spell using a spell invention, you must roll a fizzle die, a 1d4. If the result is less than or equal to the spell slot level used to cast the spell, your spell invention burns out, runs out of power, or otherwise malfunctions and cannot be used again until repaired. Your fizzle die improves by one step at 10th level (from 1d4 to 1d6) and again at 20th level (from 1d6 to 1d8), and it improves by one step when using a spell invention gained from your artificer archetype (maximum 1d10).  

Cantrips

At 1st level, you know two cantrips of your choice from the artificer spell list and construct a spell invention for each. Unlike your other spell inventions, using these does not require rolling a fizzle die. You learn additional artificer cantrips of your choice at higher levels and construct spell inventions for them, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Artificer table. Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the artificer cantrips you know with another cantrip from the artificer spell list.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your artificer spells. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an artificer spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one, and for setting the saving throw DC of an artificer feature.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Scientific Ritual Casting

You can cast an artificer spell as a ritual using a spell invention if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared. When using a spell invention in this way, you do not have to roll the fizzle die.

Tools of Artifice

You produce your spell inventions and infuse items using your tools which act as your spellcasting focus. These tools can be a sewing kit, smith’s tools, thieves’ tools, or any sort of artisan’s tools. After you gain the ability to infuse items at 2nd level, you can also use any item bearing one of your infusions as tools of artifice. You must be proficient with the tools you use in this way.

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Craftsman

Artificers often start out in creative or artistic trades. You gain an expertise die on Engineering checks, and on artisan's tools checks and smith’s tools checks made to create items or make repairs.

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Tactical Chemistry

At 1st level, you know how to quickly turn inert chemicals into something violently reactive or useful in the moment. As a bonus action, you can create one of the following items:

• acid (vial)
• alchemist’s fire
• black powder charge
• ether (flask)
• flash bomb
• oil (1 pint flask)
• paint pot
• poison (basic)
• smoke bomb
• tanglefoot bag
• torch
• torch (alchemical) 

Items you make in this way are extremely unstable and must be used immediately. If an item you created in this way is not used (activated, lit, thrown, or applied as appropriate to the item) by the end of your next turn it dissolves into useless sludge. 

You can use this feature to create a number of items equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest . You cannot regain expended uses in this way if you don’t have access to tools of artifice.

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Schematics

Starting at 2nd level, you can build all manner of things with the right tools, materials, and most importantly the schematics of what you’re trying to make.

Schematic Book

You gain schematics for three common rarity magic items of your choice. A schematic is a collection of notes and diagrams that explains in detail how to create a specific magic item. These form your schematic book, and any future schematics you gain are added to it. 

Crafting With Schematics

When you have the schematics for a magic item, they gain advantage on crafting checks to make it and the time required for crafting it is halved. Crafting a magic item using a schematic does not use up the schematic in any way, and the schematic remains usable. In addition, while using a schematic the quality of a mundane item required to make a magic item is reduced by one step.

Creating New Schematics

You can attempt to create and add a new schematic to your schematic book by spending 1 hour studying a magic item and gold equal to 1/10th of that item’s cost in experiments and material tests. At the end of the hour make an Engineering check (DC equal to item’s crafting DC). On a success you create a new schematic of that magic item and add it to your schematic book, and on a failure the time and materials are wasted.

Alternatively, if you find a schematic for a magic item you can add it to your schematic book.

To add a schematic to your schematic book or to create a schematic of a magic item, you must meet the minimum level requirements as if you were crafting the item (as shown on the Crafting and Minimum Player Level table in Trials & Treasures).

Replacing Your Schematic Book

The knowledge in your schematic book is too complex to keep entirely memorized, and if it is destroyed or lost you can’t reproduce it. For this reason most artificers fiercely protect their schematic books and many write copies. You can copy a schematic from your own schematic book into another book. This is just like creating a new schematic only significantly faster and easier since you already understand your own notations. You need only spend 10 minutes and 1 gold for each of your own schematics you copy into another book, or to create new schematics for a magic item you currently have infused.

Infusion

Once you have sufficiently studied a magic item you can reproduce and temporarily infuse its magical properties into items through arcano-technical ingenuity.

If you have the schematic for a magic item, you can use an action to infuse it, turning a mundane item into the magic item from your schematic. 

An infusion only works on mundane items specific to the type of magic item. For example, an infusion using a schematic for a magic longsword can only be used on a nonmagical longsword, and an infusion using a schematic for a suit of light armor can only be used on a nonmagical suit of padded cloth or padded leather. Many magic items take the form of small trinkets, baubles, and gems that can often be interchangeable, but the infused item needs to only be similar to the magic item’s description. The Narrator determines whether or not an item is suitable for an infusion.

You can infuse a number of items as shown on the Infusion Limit column of the Artificer table. You regain all expended infusion uses whenever you finish a long rest . 

If an infused item requires attunement, you can attune yourself or another willing creature to it when you infuse the item. If you or another creature decide to attune to the item later, you must do so using the normal process for attunement.

Any infusions you imbue vanish after you finish a long rest, but they can remain imbued indefinitely if you commit to regular upkeep. Whenever you finish a long rest you can maintain any infused items you have access to by expending one infusion use for each. Any infusions you fail to maintain vanish and revert to mundane items. 

 

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Field Discoveries

Experimentation is the key to scientific progress, and through your experiences and findings in the field you’ve discovered new skills and data. At 2nd level you gain one field discovery of your choice. Field discoveries are detailed at the end of the class description. The Field Discoveries column of the Artificer table shows when you learn more field discoveries. Unless otherwise noted, you can gain each field discovery only once.

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Artificer Archetype

At 3rd level, you choose a field of study and technological specialty. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 5th, 9th, and 15th level.

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Ability Score Improvement 

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or increase two ability scores of your choice 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

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Omnitools

With a bit of arcane power and a lot of overengineering, your tools fold and flip into whatever you need them to be. Also at 4th level, you can use your tools of artifice as if they were any kind of artisan’s tools or miscellaneous tool kits. This ability does not grant you proficiency in those tool sets but you can make tool checks as if you had those tools. 

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Archetype Feature

At 5th level you gain another archetype feature.

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Battlefield Smithing

At 6th level, as a veteran combat-tinkerer you specialize in certain aspects of warfare. Choose one of the following.

Armor Smithing

You have advantage on checks made to maintain and repair armor, and you are always considered to have access to a forge when repairing armor.

In addition, during a short rest you can spend 25 gold in materials to permanently add one of the following modifications to a suit of nonmagical armor or change an additional modification: camouflaged, flamboyant, spiked, stealthy, storage. A suit of armor can only have one additional modification.

Caravan Smithing

You have advantage on checks made to repair vehicles, and you are always considered to have access to a forge when repairing a vehicle.

In addition, during a short rest you can either repair any malfunction a vehicle is suffering or restore up to 50 of the vehicle’s hit points at the cost of 25 gold in materials.

Weapon Smithing

You have advantage on checks made to maintain and repair weapons, and you are always considered to have access to a forge when repairing a weapon.

In addition, during a short rest you can spend 25 gold in materials to permanently add one of the following modifications to a nonmagical weapon or change an additional modification: flamboyant, quickdraw, rebounding (thrown weapons only), stealthy, storage. A weapon can only have one additional modification.

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Intellectual Calibre

At 7th level, your attitudes and academic manners have cemented how you and your intellect are perceived by your peers. Choose one of the following.

Kooky Eccentric

Your excitement for your work is infectious and most find your quirky methodology inescapably endearing. You gain proficiency in Persuasion, or if you are already proficient in Persuasion you gain an expertise die instead. In addition, you can always choose to use Intelligence when making a Persuasion check.

Sporadic Genius

You’re known for sudden bursts of insight and people listen to your fervorous insights. When you or another creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an ability check or a saving throw , you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest .

Stern Proctor

Your demand for perfection extends past your own work, and with only a discerning glare and a few choice words you can make the confident seem foolish. You gain proficiency in Intimidation, or if you are already proficient in Intimidation you gain an expertise die instead. In addition, you can always choose to use Intelligence when making an Intimidation check.

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Advanced Tactical Chemistry

At 9th level you’ve mastered and branched out from basic chemistry, discovering a new science to integrate into your tactics. You may add your Intelligence modifier to the saving throw DC of any item you create using Tactical Chemistry. In addition, choose one of the following:

Humanoid Biochemistry

You’ve learned a great deal of biochemistry and what chemicals you can apply to alleviate many ailments. You can create the following additional items using your Tactical Chemistry feature:

• antitoxin  
• healing potion (greater)
• laudanum

Toxin Synthesis

You’ve learned the subtleties of toxins and can now rapidly produce foul and deadly substances. You can create the following additional items using your Tactical Chemistry feature:

• curare (vial)
• poison, potent (vial)

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Archetype Feature

Also at 9th level you gain another archetype feature.

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Trinket Master

At 10th level you’ve mastered the simpler enchantments and technological principles. What once was careful trial and error has been replaced with factory-like efficiency and speed. Whenever you craft a magic item that has a gold cost of 50 or less, the crafting time is reduced to a long rest (this time cannot be further reduced by any features or traits).

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Reliable Spell Inventions

At 11th level your practice has finally smoothed out the early faults of your spell inventions, so long as you keep the arcane power within acceptable parameters. Whenever you roll a 1 on the fizzle die, you may reroll it, if you do you must use the new result.

In addition, your spell inventions have become streamlined enough that other creatures can make sense of them. A creature holding one of your spell inventions can use an action to make an Engineering check (DC equal to your spell save DC). On a success the spell is cast at its lowest possible spell level, or on a failure the spell fizzles out and fails to cast. Whenever a creature attempts to cast a spell using one of your spell inventions in this way, roll the fizzle die as normal. 

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Marvel of Innovation

At 13th level you’ve managed to truly improve on something or create something new altogether, taking a solid step forward in the technological development of the world. When you first gain this feature, choose a type of artisan’s tools you are proficient with and a newly invented foodstuff, object, or trade good that could conceivably be crafted using those tools. For example, using brewer’s supplies you could invent carbonated sodas, using glassblower’s tools you could invent glowing iridium glassware, or using jeweler’s tools you could invent a fine mechanism for better performing pocket watches. 

Whenever you use your chosen tools to create trade goods, you can instead create your new invention as a trade good. Your new invention has a value equal to 5 times the value of normal trade goods created using those tools as shown on the Artisan’s Tools and Profession Checks table on page 338 of the Adventurer’s Guide.

Any other uses your invention may have are at the Narrator’s discretion, but its utility shouldn’t exceed that of other mundane adventuring gear.

In addition, your notoriety as a great inventor spreads along with your invention. While you are in a region you’ve sold your invention in, you have advantage on prestige checks.  

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Technological Attunement

At 14th level you’ve managed to bypass many of the arcane roadblocks regarding magic item attunement through the clever use of technology.

• You can attune to up to 5 magic items at once.
• You ignore all heritage , culture , class, level, and alignment requirements when attuning to or using a magic item.

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Archetype Feature

At 15th level you gain another archetype feature.

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Hotfixer

At 17th level you’ve mastered the art of rerouting power, quick welds, and improvising on the spot to keep your spell inventions functional. When rolling the fizzle die would burn out one of your spell inventions, you can use your reaction to fix it and restore it to full working order. Once you repair a spell invention in this way you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest . 

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Infusion Recharge

At 18th level you’ve learned what makes magic items tick and how to charge them up on your own. While you are attuned to a magic item that uses charges, you can use a bonus action to expend one infusion use and restore up to 1d6 of that item’s spent charges. 

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Magical Automaton

At 20th level you’ve managed to achieve what most inventions are truly designed for, making machines that do your work for you. Whenever you create a spell invention, you may spend 25 additional gp in material components and expend two uses of your infusion feature to transform that spell invention into a spell automaton that uses the spell automaton stat block and it is destroyed if it reaches 0 hit points.

The exact design of your spell automaton is up to you, and it may resemble a humanoid creature, a boxy contraption, or be a magical construct flowing with arcane energies.

Your spell automaton is an ally to you and your companions. In combat, the it shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any, it takes the Dodge action and uses its move to avoid danger.

You can maintain this spell automaton as if it was an infused item, requiring both the prepared spell invention and two uses of your infusion feature. You can repair your spell automaton to full hit points during a long rest so long as you have access to your tools of artifice. You can only maintain a single spell automaton at a time, and if you attempt to create a second spell automaton or fail to maintain one after finishing a long rest the spell automaton falls apart into scrap.

Spell Automaton  

Medium construct   

AC 18 (natural armor)

HP 90 (12d8+36; bloodied 45)

Speed 40 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

16 (+3) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 1 (–5) 6 (–2) 1 (–5)

Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 13

Skills Athletics +5, Perception +0 (+1d4)

Damage Resistances damage from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison, psychic

Condition Immunities blinded , charmed , deafened , exhaustion , frightened , paralyzed , petrified , poisoned

Senses passive Perception 12

Languages understands any known by its creator but cannot speak

ACTIONS

Multiattack. The automaton attacks twice with its slams or once with its integrated spell.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: its creator’s spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2d10 + 4 + your Intelligence modifier bludgeoning damage.

Integrated Spell. The automaton uses the spell invention integrated into it to cast a spell, using your spell attack bonus and spell save DC. If the spell invention integrated into it would burn out due to the result of the fizzle die, the automaton takes 30 damage instead.

BONUS ACTIONS

Overclock (Recharge 5–6). The automaton takes the Dash action.

 

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Field Discoveries

When you gain access to a new field discovery, choose one of the following.

A Better Mousetrap

There’s always a better trap design if you put your mind to it. You can improve fishing traps, hunting snares, and hunting traps as you set them. Hunting traps you improve in this way are always considered masterwork hunting traps. Whenever you retrieve an improved fishing trap or hunting snare, you may add a d6 to the result determining how much Supply has been captured. 

Alchemical Prodigy

You are a master of the alchemical arts and new mixes and concoctions come naturally to you. When you first gain this field discovery, you gain two schematics of your choice and add them to your schematic book. These schematics must be for potions of common or uncommon rarity. You gain proficiency with alchemist’s supplies, or if you are already proficient you gain an expertise die instead. In addition, you have advantage on checks made to create schematics for potions.

Golden Ratio

You’ve been taking exact measurements of both natural and magical specimens, and believe true expressions of both can be reduced down to mathematics. When you select this field discovery you may select two 1st-level spells from the druid spell list. These are considered artificer spells for you and you may add them to the list of spells you can prepare. If you are at least a 7th level artificer when you select this field discovery, you may select 1st- or 2nd-level spells from the druid spell list instead. You may select this field discovery multiple times, choosing different druid spells each time.

Modern Comforts

With a little reengineering technology can alleviate all manner of discomforts. Whenever you begin a long rest that would incur the penalties of roughing it (such as resting without heat in a cold environment, on unlevel rocky terrain, or without protection from pests in swampy environments) you may repurpose one of your currently prepared spell inventions. If you do, you do not suffer the penalties of roughing it during that long rest. You can determine the exact nature of this repurposed spell invention (some examples include using a burning hands spell invention as a space heater or a shocking grasp spell invention as a bug zapper). 

Orienteering

You always know to have a bit of magnet and a pin on you for orienteering emergencies. With 1 minute’s work you can cobble together a makeshift compass. Compasses made in this way become useless after 1 hour and have no sale value. You’re also adept at surveying your surroundings and you gain an expertise die on checks made for the Chronicle journey activity. In addition, you gain proficiency in Survival and its wayfinding skill specialty. If you already have this skill specialty you instead gain a Survival skill specialty of your choice.

Reengineering Nature 

An orderly mind can see all sorts of uses within the natural world. You may use Engineering in place of Survival when setting up camp or performing the Gather Components journey activity. In addition, you may use the material components gained from the Gather Components journey activity for your spell inventions and other artificer features that require material components.

Retraced Development

Even if dumped into the wilderness with nothing you’d get a laboratory back up and running in no time. With 1 hour of work you can create ramshackle versions of any type of artisan’s tools out of wood and stone. You take a –2 penalty on checks made with these ramshackle tools, only you can make use of them, and they have no sale value, but you can use them just like normal versions of those tools and they can also be used as tools of artifice.

Rope and Pulley Master

Numerous logistic puzzles can be solved with just a rope, a pulley, and proper application of intellect. By spending 10 minutes working with at least 300 feet of rope, you can create the following through ingenious use of ropes and pulleys.

• A rope system that provides safe travel over a gap of 50 feet or less. You must be able to access both sides of this gap to create a rope system in this way.
• A rope system that allows a creature to lift an object of a weight up to 5 × its carrying capacity directly up as far as 50 feet.
• A rope system that allows a creature to drag an object of a weight up to 5 × its carrying capacity as far as 50 feet.
• A manual rope elevator that allows a single Medium-sized or smaller creature to travel up to 50 feet straight up and down as if it were difficult terrain (a tree, cliff wall, ceiling, or similar structure is required at the top of this elevator for the ropes to attach).

You can also deconstruct and recover the rope used in any of these rope creations by spending 10 minutes tearing it down.

Strategic Dismantling

While you may have no special talent for detecting traps, you and your tools can definitely deal with them once they’ve been pointed out. You gain the Engineering skill specialty mechanical traps. In addition, if you trigger a trap while attempting to disarm it, you gain advantage on any saving throws made to avoid it.

Tinker Toys

Your mastery of locomotion and gearing allows you to easily infuse elements of motion into simple devices. As an action you can create and place a Tiny moving gadget called a tinker toy (such as a walking doll, flying whirligig, or toy boat) out of 1 gold worth of materials. This tinker toy has AC 10, 1 hit point, and your choice of a Speed of 10 feet, fly speed of 10 feet, or swim speed of 10 feet. When you place this device it begins moving in a straight line until it is destroyed, it is blocked by an obstacle, or you use a bonus action to pick it up again. Tinker toys made in this way weigh 2 pounds, and can carry up to 1 pound worth of other devices or materials. Once you create a tinker toy in this way you cannot do so again until you finish a short rest, and any existing tinker toys you’ve created fall apart whenever you create a new one.

 

If the characters perish, are transformed into gibberlings, or retreat for more than a month, then the gibberling brood mother accumulates enough power to break entirely free of the grim tapestry, leading a horde of her foul children to wreak havoc in the countryside.

If the characters liberate Calrow Ruins from the gibberlings and slay the gibberling brood mother, the threat is vanquished. A conflict may form between Lord Polding and Lady Bridgitte Nydaridien as to whom will claim the keep, and the characters may become involved for either side, or perhaps decide to establish the keep as their own stronghold.

Further adventures await: the characters may be forced to seek out the Murkhorn trolls for the secret of how to destroy the grim tapestry, or to face the troll clan if the gibberling brood mother managed to escape and consolidate its power among the trolls. They may scour the caverns beneath the ruins for the lost onyx ring, or sealing a forming breach to the outer planes beneath Calrow Ruins.

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS

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1. Arming Room

Once used to store equipment used to defend against a siege, this chamber is mostly empty, filled with broken ladders, leaking barrels of oil, heavy rocks, nets, etc. The oaken double doors leading into the garrison court (Area 9) are intact.

An old but still functioning ballista (900 pounds) rests in the western end of the room with six ballista bolts stacked against the wall (40 pounds each). Aiming, loading, and firing the ballista each require one action.

Ranged Attack—Ballista Bolt: +5 to hit, range 120/ 480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

The gibberlings in the base of the armory tower (Area 2) will attack this room if they hear loud sounds or see bright lights coming from it.

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2. Armory Tower

6 gibberlings  await here, though these gibberlings are equipped with scraps of armor granting them an AC of 14, as well as handaxes and greatclubs.

Melee Attack—Greatclub: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

They employ slightly more advanced tactics than other gibberlings , throwing their handaxes from behind cover before charging into melee en masse. When the fighting starts, a “runner” gibberling begins scrambling up the spiral stairs (difficult terrain); if it reaches the top of the tower (90 feet of spiral stairs above), it begins screeching, alerting any gibberlings in Areas 1, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 16.

The armory was located at the base of this watchtower, and a few shields, handaxes, maces, and shortswords may be recoverable. Severe damage to the upper parts of the tower have scattered chunks of stone large enough for Small creatures to gain three-quarters cover behind.

Spiral stairs lead up to the top of the tower, though they are broken in two places creating 5 foot gaps; while jumping these with a running start is easy for most characters, the stone is unsteady and a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check is required to safely distribute one’s weight after landing otherwise a large chunk of the stairs falls out, dealing 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage to any creatures below, widening that gap to 10 feet, and leaving the character dangling above a precipitous drop. If the check is failed by 5 or more, the character falls.

From the top of the 40-foot high watchtower, clear lines of sight are possible across the garrison court (Area 9), inner bailey (Area 14), kitchen court (Area 16), yew tree court (Area 20), and the surrounding lands.

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3. Breeding Grounds

Low steps from the cellars (Area 4), as well as a fissure in the moat, lead to this low-ceilinged root cellar. The floor is flooded with water and a thin layer of slippery pond scum, causing all of the chamber to be difficult terrain. The only natural light comes from the fissure and a solitary high window. However, it is a wholly alien place now, with strange living sacs of semi-transparent flesh and undulating fur holding humanoids in a variety of states of transformation from human (or dwarf, elf, or halfling) into gibberling. Bloody fur seems to grow from the walls like moss, and a whispering jibber-jabber sets the hairs on the back of the neck on end.

Characters who spend at least 1 minute in this room or who investigate any of the gibberling “breeding” sacs must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by the confusion spell for up to 1 minute. Affected creatures jibber-jabber for the duration, quietly at first, but grow gradually louder. Crossing this room without bumping into any sacks requires agroup DC 8 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check; if any character fails, 6 newly-spawned gibberlings tear free from the fleshy sacs in a frenzy of claw and fur.

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4. Cellars

Wine and ale, most soured, are stored here in large oak casks. 3 gibberlings  lurk in the shadows attempting to ambush characters entering.

A life-like black onyx “statue” of an imperious young woman with a look of shock on her face staring at her hand missing its ring finger stands before an open secret door on the west wall. This statue is the body of Arista de Freh whose abuse of the powers of the onyx ring destroyed her. The fate of the onyx ring is left for the GM to decide. The secret alcove apparently once held a tapestry judging by the hooks on the wall (the grim tapestry). On the ground is a scabbard of exceptional quality (25 gp) bearing some minor noble crests on its surface; a DC 12 Intelligence (History) check recognizes the crests as belonging to Ser Paviss’ line. The scabbard fell when Arista betrayed him.

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5. Undercroft

This unfinished earthen-floor room was meant to be an expansion of the crypt, however the quake toppled the keep and the resulting rubble completely cut it off from crypt (Area 6). In addition, the quake opened up a fissure to the infinite darkness below. 4 swarms of insects (gibberslugs) dwell in this room, ferociously attacking anything that enters but not pursuing creatures into Area 20 if it is daylight. A character hit by their bite must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be afflicted by gibberslugs (see the gibberling brood mother description).

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6. Crypt

When the keep above collapsed, the eastern half of the Nydaridien family crypt was buried in rubble. Several sarcophagi have been cracked, however, revealing treasures buried with the skeletons (4 art objects worth 25–50 gp each). Here, the ghost of Arista de Freh habitually berates the corpses of Nydaridien nobility for thinking themselves better than her and for giving birth to the “pompous Baron Ulrich and his simpering mule of a daughter.”

If not already hostile towards the characters, she requests they bring her Lady Nydaridien’s head so she can finally give her father justice and go to her peace. Characters conversing with the ghost may attempt a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) or Intelligence (Religion) check to realize that the ghost actually feels guilty for someone she betrayed and only repairing the effects of her betrayal will put her to rest.

Outright rejection of her offer or hostility causes the ghost to attack the offending character with her Possession trait as a 6 skeletons emerge from the crypts; once expelled from a possessed character she vanishes to let the skeletons fight for her.

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7. Garderobes (toilets)

These stone toilets have narrow slightly slick shafts leading down 30 feet to outside the castle walls into the moat or lake, depending on location. They could be used as a means of escape or covert entry by particularly bold characters, though Medium-sized characters will need to squeeze. Ascending or descending without ropes requires a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.

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8. Garrison

A barricade of spiked shields encircling the postern is all that remains of the defender’s last stand during Lady Nydaridien’s flight from the keep. This is where the soldiers’ barracks once were located. A few skeletons impaled on spears are all that remain of the defenders’ last stand.

The oaken double door leading to the garrison court (Area 9) has been hewn through, along with the door to the arming room (Area 1) as if by a frenzied mob of attackers.

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9. Garrison Court

8 gibberlings  await here, though during the day the gibberlings are partially burrowed into the exposed earth where they sleep clumped in one or more heaps of writhing fur.

This courtyard, with its ivy-covered walls, is littered with sparring dummies of wood and straw, as well as signs of battle like broken spears, chunks of stone debris, and torn banners. Stairs to the south of the courtyard lead up to the top of the armory tower (Area 2), but were broken in the middle by large stones falling from the damaged tower.

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10. Gatehouse

The old gate is jammed shut by a tangle of rotting fur and flesh from dozens of gibberlings which were caught within the gear mechanism during the castle’s evacuation. During the day, the fur and flesh seems to pulse and occasionally a blinking eye or writhing arm can be seen within it grasping out slowly in the direction of living beings. However, at night the gate becomes more dangerous, taking the form of a living wall of flesh and limbs covered with vaguely human faces.

Treat the wall as 3 gibberlings encounter with all the gibberlings ' hit points (27 total) added together into the same pool, but a speed of 0. Attacking the wall causes it to scream loudly as it fights back, alerting any gibberlings in Areas 2, 9, 10, 13, and 14. The wooden gate has AC 19, hp 30, and resists the first 15 points of damage from any source.

There are a few ways to bypass this hazard besides combat:

• The living wall of gibberlings can be charmed or tricked into lifting the gate it’s fused with using its many limbs either through magic or by characters disguised as a gibberling.
• Darkscape mushrooms are poisonous to the living wall of gibberlings as well. If killed through poisoning, the living wall dies in a bloody convulsion, but not before several human arms extend from it and turn the mechanism, opening the gate.
• The gate is shaded from direct sunlight exposure by the overhang of the gatehouse, but the living wall detests sunlight. If characters expose it to sunlight, the living wall attempts to climb up the gate into the gap in the walls where it will be shaded, and in so doing raises the gate with it.

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11. Great Hall

This massive feast hall is dominated by a long table and a masonry hearth on east wall above which rests the head of a horned troll , a peryton , and a brown bear . The west passage leads into what was once the foyer but is now where the grim tapestry (Area 12) is kept; hides of dripping flesh and fur hang from the arch like a grotesque curtain.

Six life-like onyx “statues” of knights stand beside the table, protecting a life-like “statue” of the Baron who is staggering backward with a look of terror while reaching for his sword. Close examination of the Baron’s eyes reveals the trapped image of Arista de Freh in them as he saw her at the moment of his death.

The ghost of Arista de Freh makes a fleeting appearance, circling the Baron with a vindictive glare before vanishing through the north wall. If the characters have been hostile with the ghost before or are in the employ of Lady Nydaridien, then the onyx “statues” animate as animated armor , two animating per round. Alternately, if it is daytime and the brood mother is trapped in the tapestry, black vapors stream from Area 12, animating two “statues” at a time.

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12. Grim Tapestry

This small chamber was once the foyer to the great hall (Area 11), but the entrance from the inner bailey (Area 14) was barricaded by the Baron in an act of desperation, then further barricaded by gibberling and human corpses, cutting it off completely from the inner bailey. Any character peering into this room through one of the arrow slits in the inner bailey witnesses an illusion of unremitting horror, requiring the character to make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the tapestry for the next three rounds and scream for the duration, alerting the gibberlings in Area 14.

The grim tapestry hangs against a wooden board erected in the center of this chamber, with withered corpses of spellcasters and psionicists the gibberling brood mother has drained, hoping to gain the power it needs to break free of the tapestry completely. The tapestry depicts a grey-cloaked hunchback with long curling claws, seething white eyes, a hideous grin, and a face that seems to shimmer and blur as one views it from different angles. It radiates abjuration and conjuration magic if viewed with detect magic.

At night, the gibberling brood mother is freed from the tapestry, and is accompanied by a 6 gibberlings encounter. A protection from evil and good cast on the tapestry compels the  gibberling brood mother to return to being trapped inside it until the next night, though she may now animate it as described below.

During the day, the gibberling brood mother is unable to manifest in physical form, but she can animate the tapestry as a rug of smothering that has the following additional trait:

When reduced to fewer than half hit points, as a reaction the gibberling brood mother can turn the rug into a cloud of black vapor that streaks to the breeding grounds (Area 3) or stateroom (Area 19) at fly speed 40 ft. While in this form, the rug cannot damage others or be damaged.

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13. Guard Room

A one-legged gibberling wearing a sallet helm and wielding a spear paces about in this room jibber-jabbering, occasionally stopping to gnaw on its fingers or the bloody stump of its missing leg. This gibberling , once a guardsman who colluded with Arista, is oblivious of other creatures unless they try to attack it. The northeastern wall bears an inscription as if carved hastily with a dagger:

Forgive me. She has betrayed us. My fate is—.

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14. Inner Bailey

The inner bailey is filled with ruin and decay. The grass is dead and riddled with earth mounds. Debris from the collapse of the upstairs keep litters the northern section of the bailey. A layer of mist lightly obscures the bailey in the evening and early morning.

8 gibberlings  await here. During the day they’re burrowed just below the earth where they sleep so that they’re not visible until a character is within 5 feet; if damaged but not killed, a gibberling screams and wakes the others. At night they’re cavorting, wailing, wrestling, digging, smashing, and scavenging.

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15. Kitchen

What was once a cherished part of the keep has become a cesspit of foul concoctions and jars full of writhing gibberslugs and preserved gibberslug husks. The tables drip with oozing, pustulant grey flesh. Among the jars is a bloating floating head which awakens if charm magic is used on it; the head is left as an open-ended tool for the GM to use as they see fit; perhaps it belongs to an NPC with whom the characters are familiar!

6 gibberlings  lurk in the kitchen, scouring cupboards, gazing fixedly at gibberslug jars, or fighting over scraps of food. Their preferred method of attack is improvised throwing of various things in the room, including gibberslug jars.

Gibberslug jar. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution save or be infested by gibberslugs (see the gibberling brood mother).

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16. Kitchen Court

What was once a lovely courtyard replete with an herb and rose garden has been absolutely demolished by the collapse of the servants’ quarters above. Much of the stone appears to have liquefied and then re-hardened, with humanoid skeletons trapped within the stone. There are two bizarre life-like onyx “statues” of maid servants poised in horrific agony on the west side of the courtyard, servants who crossed Arista during her betrayal. Stairs to the west lead up to the top of the gatehouse (Area 10), while stairs to the east lead up to servants’ quarters which were mostly demolished by the quake.

A character proficient in Arcana, Nature, or the herbalism kit who searches this area will discover a cluster of 3 darkscape mushrooms.

A gibbering mouther lurks at the bottom of the 20 foot well and is responsible for the destruction above. When it senses creatures within 60 feet, it comes to the surface just out of sight and begins gibbering, sounding as if a soft voice is speaking unintelligibly from the well. Once creatures are subjected to its Gibbering Mouths trait, the gibbering mouther  emerges to use Blinding Bile and attempts to grab a weak character and drag them down the well, the walls of the well liquefying into a horrific scene of blinking eyes that make climbing impossible.

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17. Oratory

This quiet prayer room echoes with unintelligible ghostly voices. Clerics and paladins intuitively understand that they can use Channel Divinity to make the voices louder and intelligible, revealing a cryptic warning:

“Beware the betrayer who begets betrayer. The undying mother will truly end once her child is redeemed by the darkscape.”

This refers to Arista betraying Ser Paviss, hinting that Ser Paviss can be freed from the sentient gibberslug (allowing him to truly die) by feeding him a darkscape mushroom, an event which also releases Arista’s spirit.

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18. Oubliette

A tiny prison cell with a single 5-foot wide grate on the floor echoes with piteous moans. Light cast down the grate reveals an old man in tatters who shields his face at the bottom of the oubliette. He identifies himself as Dellard ( commoner ), former castellan of the keep. His mind is mostly gone; he suffers memory gaps and violent fits of jibberjabbering like the gibberlings. Closer examination of the man in bright light reveals his eyes are black, his hands crooked, his forearms covered in gruesome scars, his facial features slightly squished, and he has a wild black mane of hair and beard uncharacteristic for a man of his age.

The Baron imprisoned Dellard when he criticized him for refusing Arista as his wife. Arista secretly offered to free him, but when he refused, she threw a jar of gibberslugs down on him to “make use of him one way or another.” Multiple gibberslugs infested Dellard but he tore them out with his bare teeth, and is now immune to the gibberslugs. Dellard can prove a helpful guide if rescued; however, if Dellard succumbs to a gibberling’s Gibber trait, instead of becoming frightened he is affected by the confusion spell for 1 minute.

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19. Stateroom

Lavishly decorated with oil paintings, statues, and smashed ivory figurines (five pieces each worth 30 gp are salvageable), this room was meant to impress visiting aristocrats. The room now impresses adventurers with a grizzly scene: dozens of shattered skeletons, covered with dried gore, as well as three life-like onyx “statues” poised in the middle of terrified combat. Where the person they were protecting should be is a pile of onyx dust (50 gp) that was once the Baron’s cousin. The onyx statues include the Baron’s brother and two knights who were betrayed by Arista.

A detect magic spell cast on one of the two intact oil paintings (200 gp each) or one of the three whole statues (500 gp each) in this room reveals they are each enchanted by abjuration and necromantic magic—a glyph of warding that triggers black tentacles if a creature tries to remove or tamper with an oil painting or statue. The ghost of Arista de Freh appears fleetingly in this room, necrotic energy crackling from her as she broodingly floats through the south wall to the center of the room and vanishes into the floor.

Stairs from here lead up to the ramparts.

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20. Yew Tree Court

This once-beautiful courtyard was built around an old sacred yew tree. The tree is now sickly, and pestilent black sludge bubbles and gurgles around its base. Dozens of withered gibberslug husks lie scattered about the courtyard, their decomposition forming the odiferous black tar.

A DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check or a detect poison or disease spell cast on the yew tree reveals the gibberslugs are corrupting into some form of aberration, and if not saved or destroyed within 5 days, will become a roper.

The black sludge is effectively a black pudding with 42 hit points, without a climb speed, and without the ability to Split as a reaction. It does not attack unless a character attacks it first or steps in it.

The collapse of the keep littered rubble around the courtyard’s north end, where a staircase climbs to nowhere (where the noble family’s quarters once were). The damage also caused a gap in the northeast wall to drop into an old unfinished section of the castle’s undercroft (Area 5); a trail of black slime leading down into the darkness.

A character proficient in Arcana, Nature, or the herbalism kit who searches this Area will discover a cluster of 3 darkscape mushrooms.

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS | CONCLUSION =>

Calrow Ruins overlooks Lach Gwyren, a freshwater lake blanketed by fog and ringed by poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods. The keep’s disrepair is evident from even a mile away. A moat was dug around the portion of the keep not buttressing the lake. The moat was filled by channels connected to the lake, but the earthquake two years ago caused the moat to drain. This left behind a ditch with only shallow water that becomes a muddy mire after rains. A stone bridge spans the moat leading to the gatehouse, however it was broken in Lady Nydaridien’s flight from the keep to prevent the gibberlings from following.

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The Outer Bailey

Calrow Ruins’ outer bailey is the only way in or out of the keep without navigating Lach Gwyren. A pair of guards , Hamson and Glamock, stand futile watch over the shattered barbican leading into the outer bailey. These guards are loyal to Ser Paviss, though their time in and around the ruins has warped their minds toward paranoia.

Both Hamson and Glamock believe they’re fulfilling critical duties in guarding the barbican and cannot be convinced otherwise. Hamson, in particular, believes that the horned trolls are massing for a raid on the keep, and he demands anyone wishing to pass prove they’re not trollish collaborators (for example, by demonstrating they don’t regenerate wounds). Glamock, on the other hand, believes the keep and surrounding lands are cursed and encourages characters to turn back for their own good… unless Glamock realizes a cleric is among them, in which case he is keen to invite the cleric (and just the cleric) inside to negotiate with his commander, Ser Paviss.

Exploring the Outer Bailey

The outer bailey is where the peasants serving the Nydaridien family once dwelled. Massive boulders, now overgrown with moss and artistically engraved with runes by the keep’s former occupants, are scattered across the grounds. Ruins of workshops, stables, livestock stalls, granaries, and servants’ quarters occupy much of the outer bailey.

Meeting with Ser Paviss

Ser Paviss is brooding and distant, apparently occupied with his grim duty of standing watch over a ruined keep, but will meet with the characters to provide them with information (and deliberate misinformation) about what they can expect within the keep. During this meeting, he attempts to ascertain as much as he can about the characters while giving away as little about his true nature as possible. Characters conversing with him may make a DC 11 Wisdom (Insight) check to learn information about him.

Ser Paviss knows the following:

• Some gibberlings have the vague likeness of former servants or knights. They have raided the garrison, and are armed. (True)
• Gibberling activity is confined to within the walls of the ruins thanks to the efforts of Ser Paviss’ guards and the moat. (False)
• A general layout of the castle, including the main areas the Garrison wing, the Great Hall, the Kitchen wing, and the Keep. He also knows about the postern entrance. (True)
• There are no other hazards or monsters in the ruins besides gibberlings . (False)

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Methods of Entry

Bridge

This stone bridge spans 20 feet, supported by three pillars rising from the muck with arches forming beneath it. Razorvine crawls up the edges and threatens to spill over the stone railings. The last ten feet of the bridge are broken, ostensibly to keep the gibberlings inside. Characters jumping across this gap or climbing up from the moat below, enter the gatehouse (Area 10).

Moat Fissure

Murky water about 2 feet deep is all that remains of the moat. A PC proficient in Arcana, Nature, or the herbalism kit who searches this area will discover a cluster of 3 darkscape mushrooms. 

Exploring the moat area outside the cellars (Area 4) reveals a narrow fissure in the stone leading to the cellars, mostly hidden by  overgrown moss that a Small creature could squeeze through. The fissure can be widened to allow Medium creatures to squeeze through by dealing 30 points of bludgeoning damage, damage from a pick, force damage, or thunder damage. However the noise created by such activity will attract gibberlings, raising the difficulty of encounters in the cellars by one step.

Postern

Exploring the perimeter of the keep on the lake side reveals a concealed postern entrance on the northwestern side, disguised via an optical illusion created by masterful stone-laying so it is only visible when viewed from within 60 feet. This narrow passage only permits creatures through in single file, leading into what was once the garrison (Area 8).

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS | INTO THE CASTLE =>

Lady Bridgitte Nydaridien

Bridgitte Nydaridien is a proud noble in her mid-thirties and the daughter of Baron Ulrich Nydaridien, the same Baron under whose rule Calrow Keep fell into ruins. In addition to reclaiming the keep for her family’s honor and legacy—embodied in the ancestral crest of two argent swans addorsed on a field of sable—she also wishes to recover her father’s corpse, or at least learn how he died.

Bridgitte’s personal guard is meager (12 guards ), just enough to protect her encampment and her bodyguard, Ser Caomhan ( knight ), and must enlist adventurers to claim the ruins in her name. Unfortunately, her coffers have been depleted by paying Ser Paviss and his knights’ stipend for keeping watch over the ruins. What she can offer the characters is a dozen acres of arable land each as her vassals. If desperate, she will offer a simple star rose quartz (50 gp) from about her own neck, claiming that it belonged to her father and there may be more in the keep and the characters may keep the gems if they find them.

• Goal: Reclaim Calrow Ruins to honor her father’s memory and leave a legacy for her family.
• Notes: She’ll go to great lengths to cover up her family’s role in the downfall of Calrow Ruins.
• Beliefs: It is the duty of the nobility to look after the welfare of those from lesser birth.
• Personality Trait: Does not suffer fools or liars.

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Lord Comsfor Polding

A feudal noble , Comsfor Polding is the third son of a lord of little importance. Possessed of neither brawn nor charisma, Polding has relied on his cunning ability to figure out what people desire and leverage that to his disadvantage. He is a portly man in his forties, roughly shaven, with a perpetual sneer on his jowls, and ready to offer a false smile that hides a long and vengeful memory. 

While he is a lord in title, Comsfor owns just a  meager bit of land to the south with no castle on it. The device on his banners—a peryton on a fess argent over gules—was invented by none other than himself after his father and older brothers were slain by perytons. He deems the Nydaridiens incompetent fools, and intends to “liberate” Calrow Ruins from their rule.

However, Comsfor Polding only has a small troupe of mercenaries (16 bandits and a bandit captain ) camped at the easter edge of Lach Gywren, and he must hire adventurers to claim the ruins in his name. He has 500 gp in his treasury, though he offers the minimum he thinks they’ll accept (starting at 40 gold split between all adventurers).

• Goal: Claim a castle and surrounding lands for his own to create a legacy for his family.
• Notes: His ambitious eye exceeds his grasp.
• Beliefs: No one will give us what we do not take for ourselves.
• Personality Trait: Jaded and sardonic with a dark sense of humor.

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Ser Miel Paviss

Ser Miel Paviss is a lanky knight standing head and shoulder above the soldiers under his command. Sunken brooding eyes and a faint yellow scar at the base of his skull are the only physical clues that the knight is controlled by a gibberslug. He served under Baron Ulrich Nydaridien, and both were betrayed by Arista de Freh. One fateful night, Arista led Paviss to the grim tapestry, where the aberrant forces within the tapestry reached out and forced a gibberslug inside his skull. Unlike other gibberslug victims, Paviss did not turn into a gibberling . Instead, the unusual gibberslug gained sentience, killed the knight, and took control of his body.

The creature masquerading as Miel Paviss is currently charged by Bridgitte Nydaridien with ensuring the gibberlings stay confined to the ruins and do not infest the lands beyond. He is aided by 4 guards who remain loyal to him. The guards under his command are forgiving of their commander’s oddities but secretly suspect something is wrong. The creature within Ser Paviss is driven by an urge to understand its current state and how it is connected to the  gibberlings . To this end, it serves the subtle telepathic commands of the gibberling brood mother and seeks a way to liberate her from the confines of Calrow Ruins. Currently this means luring outsiders to the Keep, and let its horrors fill them with terror and rage, tumultuous emotions that will feed the brood mother until she is powerful enough to gain total freedom from the grim tapestry.

• Goal: Understand the gibberlings that occupy Calrow Ruins—what motivates them, why they gibber at night, and where they came from.
• Notes: Can’t resist setting others on edge, playing on fears, or pitting them against each other.
• Beliefs: This mortal flesh is impure and deserves to be remade in the image of something greater.
• Personality Trait: Ser Paviss remembers those who died in the gibberling massacre, and he occasionally suffers a twitch while suppressing this memory.

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS | THE APPROACH =>

You can use any of the following hooks to get the characters involved with Calrow Ruins.

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Grim Treasure Hunters

Following legends of either the grim tapestry or the onyx ring, the characters have traced one or both of these infamous treasures to Calrow Ruins. They may be seeking these items for their own power, as elements in an ongoing campaign, or as part of a mission to destroy corrupting magical artifacts.

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Noble’s Behest

One of the two nobles approaches the party, asking them to reclaim the keep in their name. Parties with a reputation for heroism are approached by Lady Nydaridien, while more mercenary parties are approached by Lord Polding. What each of these nobles can offer to entice the characters is outlined under their NPC descriptions.

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Return to the Keep

One or more of the characters may have survived the quake and the ensuing gibberling massacre that resulted from Arista de Freh’s betrayal. Haunted by the horrors they witnessed, the characters take it as a matter of personal honor to vanquish the gibberlings that caused so many they once called friends.

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS | NONPLAYER CHARACTERS =>

Calrow Keep was once a bastion of security and justice in a dangerous wilderness. However, three calamities reduced the keep to ruins and paved the way for the rise of the gibberlings .

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The first befell the keep nearly a century ago when rampaging horned trolls of the Murkhorn tribe destroyed Calrow’s walls in pursuit of adventurers who stole their treasures Descendants of these horned trolls live to the east in forest caves, plotting the day they can recover the preserved head of the shaman who once lead the pack which is displayed in the stateroom (Area 19) of Calrow Ruins as a trophy. Among the trolls’ treasures was the grim tapestry with the likeness of a hunchbacked, grinning creature in black robes embroidered on its surface. This creature magically trapped within the tapestry is the gibberling brood mother , a twisted, deranged horror of the outer planes. The brood mother feeds on psychic and magical energy—the minds of dead mages and psionicists, and the brash emotions of noble men and women, give it power.

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The second calamity befell the keep twelve years ago when the ruler of the keep, the widower Baron Ulrich Nydaridien, offended Lord Mattier de Freh of a neighboring province by refusing the hand of Lord de Freh’s daughter Arista. Baron Nydaridien, fearful of those who sought to usurp him, had taken to consulting the brood mother in the tapestry; it telepathically warned him of foes both real and imaginary while drinking deep of his fear. Distraught, Arista cast her would-be wedding ring, a band of gold clasping an onyx gem, off the parapets. Gravely offended, Lord de Freh laid siege to the keep. Though Lord de Freh was defeated and beheaded for his treachery, the destruction was so extensive that the Nydaridiens were forced to vacate the ruined keep.

Gradually, Calrow Keep was reduced to a minimal retinue of servants and a handful of guards led by the inimitable Ser Paviss who had long been in the service to the Baron. Arista de Freh was spared her father’s fate and made a lady-in-waiting of House Nydaridien, though she never forgave the Nydaridiens for what befell her father. When repairs on the keep were delayed by battles and matters of governance, the Baron moved his court elsewhere and the tapestry was all but forgotten. That is, until Arista returned to the keep in search of her ring. The guileful brood mother promised Arista her revenge, returning the onyx wedding ring which had slipped between the cracks in the keep’s blasted masonry.

There is was imbued by foul energies with the power to turn the blood and body of anyone its wearer touched to onyx. In exchange, all Arista had to do was lead the knight Ser Paviss to the tapestry, and so she did one stormy night. Amidst terrible flickering lights, a nightmarish, slug-like creature crawled from the tapestry’s embroidery and into Paviss’ ear. Arista fled, the knight’s dying screams ringing behind her, to seek her revenge on the Nydaridiens.

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Two years ago, the tapestry commanded Arista to arrange for the Nydaridiens to return to Calrow. During their visit, a terrible quake shook the surrounding lands and all but collapsed the keep. Arista was forewarned of the quake by the tapestry, and sought to use the disturbance to end the entire Nydaridien bloodline. Amidst the calamity, vengeful Arista used her ring’s power to turn the Baron to onyx, but she was betrayed by its foul magic. Her task complete, Arista had outlived her usefulness and died alongside the Baron she so despised, turned to onyx herself. Her dying sight was the image of the hunchbacked figure stepping from the tapestry into the world. From the shadows came terrible gibbering, jabbering, and wailing as gibberlings broke up from the tunnels below in numbers beyond counting.

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<= THE HAUNTING OF CALROW RUINS | CHARACTER HOOKS =>