Barrow of the Bone Blaggards
Open source p.4OSE AA2
Taverns are abuzz with rumors of robbers on the roads. Haggard witnesses tell wild tales of brigands composed of naught but walking bones, attacking their caravans and making off with their goods and companions. All these incidents have taken place near a certain lonely barrow in the woods, built a century ago to inter scores of nameless soldiers who died heroes’ deaths in an historic battle. The barrow, though always a shunned place, has never been known to be haunted—but now, a ghostly, lively music echoes from it. For a reward, a chance at loot, or both, the adventurers have come here to investigate this mystery. They are unaware of the supernatural scourge’s true origin: Quintius, an aspiring necromancer, came to the barrow to animate and command an army of the dead, but the ritual he used backfired. The undead were brought to life, but out of his control. The warriors, after experiencing the terrible boredom that is death, have decided to use their newfound immortality to do whatever they want without consequence. L
The Adventure
Overview & introduction p.4
Taverns are abuzz with rumors of robbers on the roads. Haggard witnesses tell wild tales of brigands composed of naught but walking bones, attacking their caravans and making off with their goods and companions. All these incidents have taken place near a certain lonely barrow in the woods, built a century ago to inter scores of nameless soldiers who died heroes’ deaths in an historic battle. The barrow, though always a shunned place, has never been known to be haunted—but now, a ghostly, lively music echoes from it. For a reward, a chance at loot, or both, the adventurers have come here to investigate this mystery. They are unaware of the supernatural scourge’s true origin: Quintius, an aspiring necromancer, came to the barrow to animate and command an army of the dead, but the ritual he used backfired. The undead were brought to life, but out of his control. The warriors, after experiencing the terrible boredom that is death, have decided to use their newfound immortality to do whatever they want without consequence. L
Random Happenings p.5
(1-IN PER TURN) 1. Roll : 1–3: skeletons patrol. 4: zombies carousing. 2. giant rats carrying off bits of rotten food to Area 20, viciously protect their food. 3. 1 carcass crawler hunting for food. Attempts to pick off a PC and carry them to its lair (Area 18) to feast. Re-roll if previously slain. 4. Skeleton hand skitters along the wall, like a spider. 5. Tendrils of ghostly mist seep from cracks in the walls. 6. Sounds of revelry from Area 21.
Denizens p.6
QUINTIUS
Necromancer and prisoner: to keep the undead from killing him, Quintius has convinced them that by continuing the ritual, he can eventually return them to a flesh-bound existence. The undead have imprisoned Quintius in Area 22 to make sure he does just that.
UNDEAD
Sentient skeletons and zombies reanimated by Quintius. They love drinking, eating, and smoking despite their inability to truly do so (it all goes right through them). All mistakenly believe that Quintius’s ritual will grant them living flesh once more. Zombies act superior to the skeletons because of the flesh they already have. Likewise, the skeletons are desperate to take some living flesh of their own, and often remove skin, limbs, and other parts from victims in misguided attempts to apply them to their own body and hasten the “progress” of Quintius’s ritual.
VERMIN
Giant rats and a carcass crawler also make their homes in this forsaken place. They are interested only in food.
ALFWINE
A pixie who has been living in the barrow for some time before Quintius came. The skeletons managed to capture her beneath a stone cairn (Area 6). Wants these rude, disgusting skeletons off of what she deems her property.
UNDEAD TREANT
A long-dead guardian of the barrow, he has been resurrected by the same dark magic that animates the skeletons and zombies. He sees his new form and the other undead as an affront to nature, and wants to return both to death, as things should be.
General Notes p.6
CONSTRUCTION
Areas 1–12, 14, and 20–22 have uneven walls of moss-veined stone bricks, 10’ high ceilings riddled with scraggly roots. Areas 13–19 are natural caves of packed earth.
LIGHTING
All areas except 10, 12–14, and 16–19 are kept lit by waxy clumps of halfmelted candles placed in niches in the walls.
Keyed entries (22)
1. 1. Entrance p.7
Circular stone pushed aside, darkened threshold. Streams of mist slither out, stinking of decay. Occasional distant echoes of faint voices and song from inside (coming from Area 21).
2. 2. Crawler Tunnel p.7
Pile of forest detritus obscures a short 2’ high tunnel bored into the mound.
- Traversing the tunnel: Characters must crawl on their hands and knees. The tunnel opens into the larger, cave-like tunnel beyond.
3. 3. Antechamber p.8
Rows of empty burial alcoves, crusty linen scraps on the floor. Defaced reliefs of warriors fighting, scribbled over with profanity. Crude carving on the north door: “ALL WHO ENTER WILL BE CURSED!”
4. 4. Hall of the Floating Jar p.8
Cobweb-festooned hall, pottery fragments litter the floor. Opposite the doors from Area 3, a clay jar is suspended from the ceiling by a near-invisible spider silk thread.
- Touching the jar: Causes the thread to snap, sending the jar crashing to the floor. It shatters and releases a cloud of bone dust (save versus breath or spend rounds coughing). The sound of the breaking jar also attracts a wandering monster ( on the random happenings table).
5. 5. Cave-In p.8
Collapsed passage blocked by damp earth and broken stones. 5 skeletal arms protrude from the rubble, flailing pitifully, their re-animated, entombed owners unable to escape. One of them blindly swings a sword encrusted in a verdigris patina.
- Taking the sword: The skeletal arms attack once before the character is able to snatch away the sword: THAC0 19 [0], 4 × claws () and 1 × sword ().
- Cleaning the sword: Reveals it to be a bronze sword, bearing an inscription commemorating the long-ago battle in which the tomb’s residents (first) perished.
6. 6. Trapped Fairy p.9
Empty stone coffers lie about the floor in disarray, some broken. A small cairn has been made from the rubble of one of them. Muffled screams can be heard coming from underneath it.
- Moving the cairn: Releases an angry pixie, who begins fluttering about frenetically.
- Speaking to the pixie: She reveals her name to be Alfwine, and says she was taken from her quiet home in the tunnels (Area 13) and trapped under the cairn by skeletons, who talked of giving her to the wizard to be used as a magical reagent.
- Gaining her aid: She will use her powers of invisibility to help the party, if they promise to get rid of the skeletons (unless the PCs have taken her gold from Area 13).
7. 7. Store Room p.9
Stacks of crates and barrels full of stolen goods, mostly foods like dried beef, cheese, and bread. 4 skeletons (hp: 5, 5, 4, 2) peeking into the store, discussing what foods they want to eat when they can taste again.
- If attacked: In combat, the skeletons call dibs on which body parts they’ll take from the PCs after they kill them.
8. 8. Defiled Crypt p.10
Open stone coffers set into the walls, lids in cracked pieces all over the floor. The skeletal occupants are still lying inside, but their heads are smashed in. Garbled inscription on the wall opposite the entrance.
- Reading the inscription: Original writing scratched out, replaced by crude graffiti etched by a blade: “Here lies a bunch of no-good cowards.”
- Searching the skeletons: In the eye sockets of one of the smashed skulls sits a pair of exquisitely crafted, utterly realistic glass eyes (these belong to the idol in Area 10).
9. 9. Tapestries p.10
Stinks of mold. Semicircular niches in the walls hold melted candle stubs. Three tapestries are hung up on the south wall.
- West tapestry—cloth of gold: Actually covered in yellow mold. Behind is a niche holding 50gp and a golden serpent buckle (200gp).
- Middle tapestry—stoic warrior with
- sword: Behind, a white light flickers from a crack near the floor (concealed door to Area 10, locked).
- East tapestry—monk knelt in prayer: Behind is a pull-chain that unlocks the door behind the warrior tapestry.
10. 10. Burning Shrine p.11
White marble idol depicting a saintly figure cupping a brazier in its hands. Its eye sockets are empty. The brazier is lit with ghostly, white, smokeless flames.
- Amongst the flames: 3 blue gemstones (200gp each) in a pile of glowing ash.
- Trying to take the gemstones: Whitehot fire coils up the character’s arm and engulfs it, dealing damage.
- Replacing the idol’s eyes: With the glass eyes found in Area 8 causes the flames to abate, making it safe to take the gemstones.
11. 11. Guard Room p.11
Faded, indecipherable murals on the walls. 3 skeletons (hp: 7, 6, 2—stats on p.9) smoking pipes and playing knucklebones (with actual knucklebones). One wears a key on a string around his neck (opens the door to Area 12). Refill their pipes from a wooden box on the floor between them.
- Eavesdropping: The skeletons are gambling over the body parts they plan to take from their prisoners, who apparently are somewhere nearby. The skeletons seem to believe they can somehow wear these body parts.
- In the box: High-end tobacco (250gp).
12. 12. Prison p.12
Musty chamber, several empty stone coffers. 6 terrified merchants, clad in mud-spattered purple robes of the sericulturalists guild, huddle in a corner.
- Speaking to the merchants: They say they were taken prisoner by the skeletons, who attacked their caravan. They’ve heard the skeletons speak of plucking out their eyes and handing over their bodies to “the necromancer” for his magic.
- Freeing the merchants: If returned to civilization, the merchants pay the party 1,200gp.
13. 13. Mossy Cave p.12
Water trickles down the moss-clad walls. A suite of tiny furniture, including a lichen bed, moss-padded chairs, and overturned mushroom tables. An oval rug of yellow striated moss carpets the floor.
- Fairy home: This is the home of Alfwine, imprisoned in Area 6. The furniture was overturned by the skeletons who captured her.
- Underneath the rug: A rock embedded in the earth conceals a small hole containing a lead pot of 500gp.
14. 14. Lair of the Spider p.13
Dirty white webs criss-crossed over the room, holding bone fragments and broken flagstones. A giant black widow spider sits at the webs’ heart, legs tucked in, unmoving (asleep).
- Traversing the chamber: Characters must succeed a DEX check with a bonus or become caught in the webs, waking the spider.
15. 15. Marble Slab p.13
A rough-cut marble slab marked with a carven ‘X’ covers a 5’ wide hole in the wall leading to Area 16.
- Moving the slab: Requires combined STR of 36+.
16. 16. Tree Cave p.14
Dank cave, floor nearly completely taken up by a murky puddle. A gray, skeletal tree (an undead treant) stands immobile in the puddle, knotted roots creeping across the ground, branches and boughs scraping the walls and ceiling. A rough-cut marble slab blocks the threshold to the east.
- Entering the room: The treant rouses, grumbles “Back to the grave with you, little ones!”, and attacks the PCs, unless they convince him they’re not undead.
- Speaking with the treant: His roots “hear” most things happening inside the dungeon, and he can tell PCs about the knight who died in Area 18 or the prisoners in Area 12.
- Moving the slab: Requires combined STR of 36+.
17. 17. The Last Stand p.15
Blood-encrusted sword lying on the floor. Dried bloodstains on the walls, mingled with splatterings of blue-green ooze.
- Touching the ooze: Gives a slight numbness and tingling sensation (blood from the carcass crawler living in Area 18).
18. 18. Crawler Lair p.15
Nest of yellow bones and dry moss. A carcass crawler gnaws on a groaning skull.
- Searching the nest: Reveals 250gp, 4 silver cups (50gp each), a suit of badly dented plate armor (useless), and the Holy Symbol of Sir Ignatius.
- Speaking with the skull: Claims to be a knight explorer named Sir Gallant, resurrected by the strange magics of the barrow. This is a lie—he is actually one of the re-animated skeletons from the tombs, waylaid by the crawler. Asks to be taken with the party. Calls for help from the other undead as soon as the party enters any room adjacent to Area 21.
19. 19. Crystal Spring p.15
Dreamy pool of opalescent water, shedding cool bubbly mist. White crystal flowers around the rim.
- Drinking from the pool: Tastes fizzy, heals a character for hp (at most once a day) but has a 2-in chance of causing uncontrollable hiccups lasting turns.
- Taking water from the pool: The water quickly goes flat, losing its healing powers.
20. 20. Garbage p.16
Piles of rotting, chewed food strewn around the floor and table. 5 giant rats (hp: 4, 4, 3, 2, 2) gorge themselves on the refuse.
- Searching the garbage: 4 bronze bowls (100gp each) caked in spilt gruel.
21. 21. Central Crypt p.16
Large, vaulted chamber, lined with empty niches. Tables and chairs made from repurposed sarcophagi. A rabble of undead—10 skeletons (hp: 6, 6, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1—stats on p.9) and 6 zombies (hp: 12, 11, 10, 7, 6, 2)—are here drinking, laughing, singing, and relaxing after a successful plunder. They guzzle wine, letting it fall through their ribs and splatter on the floor. Their stolen loot is scattered about the room.
- Entering: The undead uproariously welcome the living, offering wine. Their true motive is to swiftly capture or murder the party.
- Treasure hoard: Stacks of gold and silver coins (500gp, 1,000sp), 4 crates of dyed silks (100gp each), 5 casks of wine (20gp each), 10 tiny gemstones (10gp each), and an ivory drinking horn (300gp).
22. 22. Wizard’s Chamber p.17
Occult symbols drawn on the floor in blood, alongside multiple piles of bloody bones. A miserable bed is formed of a pile of grave shrouds atop a sarcophagus. A robed figure (Quintius) hunches over the Dead Grimoire, laid out on an overturned coffer.
- Undead guards: There is a 2-in chance per turn that one of the skeletons from Area 21 comes to check on Quintius’s progress with the (supposed) ritual to grant them living flesh.
- Speaking with Quintius: If convinced of the party’s non-threatening intentions, he describes his current situation (see Denizens), and says he has been trying unsuccessfully to find a way to reverse the ritual that raised the barrow’s dead. He offers 1,000gp if the PCs can get him out alive and keep this whole thing secret (in the form of a ruby amulet he has concealed under his robes).
- Asking about the hostages: Claims the undead took them for their own purposes, but if pressed admits that he’s used “some” of the living in his experiments.
- If Quintius leaves this room: The undead discover his absence in turns. They proceed to rush madly throughout the barrow searching for him, half heading south to Area 4 via Area 20 and half via Area 11.
- Killing Quintius: Causes all undead in the dungeon to discorporate.