Unravel the sinister origins of a plague ravaging a grim village, and confront the necromancer whose dark rituals have corrupted the land in this one-shot adventure.
Welcome to “Plague of Kettlebrook” 5E adventure! Within these pages, you’ll discover everything necessary to embark on this thrilling quest, complete with detailed descriptions of locations, encounters, NPCs and stat blocks, maps, and handouts.
This adventure also features a versatile and scalable system, allowing Game Masters to easily adjust the difficulty and complexity of encounters to suit their players’ preferences and skill levels. Whether you have a party of advanced players or beginners, you can tailor the challenges to ensure an exciting and engaging experience for everyone involved. The scalable system guides modifying creature statistics, making it simple to customize the adventure to fit your party’s level.
In “Plague of Kettlebrook,” a party of 4-6 characters (levels 3-5) answers the desperate plea of Olaf Harrowson, the elder of a once-thriving village now gripped by a mysterious plague. Since the miller’s enigmatic disappearance, monstrous creatures have emerged from the forest and a necromantic blight has spread across the land. The investigation leads the players from the village’s fearful streets into a sinister forest and ultimately to a cursed windmill — the nexus of a necromancer’s dark power. The adventure is divided into five parts.
Part 1: Gathering Clues in Kettlebrook
The players arrive in the despairing village and speak with key NPCs — the barmaid, the blacksmith, and the farmer — each sharing chilling accounts of the miller’s last days, unnatural happenings near the windmill, and withering crops. Investigating the miller’s abandoned home reveals a secret diary chronicling his growing obsession with a hidden chamber beneath the windmill and an evil presence in the forest.
Part 2: Investigation in the Sinister Forest
The players venture into a forest transformed by necromantic corruption. Four sequential events build dread and uncover the truth: navigating an oppressive silence with a randomized consequences table for those who lose their way, discovering the grotesquely twisted remains of sheep bearing evidence of dark magic, confronting a corrupted Twisted Fox, and encountering a half-mad hermit who reveals the existence of the Plague Carrier — a former villager now wandering as a vessel of decay near the windmill.
Part 3: Approaching the Windmill
The corrupted windmill looms before the players as vegetation withers and bloodied runes scar the earth. An encounter with the dreaded Plague Carrier guards the approach, with combat options ranging from direct assault to a challenging stealth approach. Investigating the surrounding dark ritual sites provides tactical insights into the necromancer’s power and plans.
Part 4: The Haunted Windmill
The players explore four floors of the corrupted windmill. An arcane rune puzzle on the entrance door requires activating four necromantic symbols in the correct sequence, with necrotic energy punishing wrong answers. Inside, they battle corrupted infected rats in the storage room, navigate a gauntlet of three deadly traps on the grinding floor, and face undead laborers in the dark basement.
Part 5: The Final Confrontation
At the windmill’s apex, the necromancer awaits before his bone altar with undead laborers at his side. The battle unfolds across four escalating phases — ranged spells, empowered attacks, crumbling ceilings, and a devastating final spell. The players can gain a critical advantage by disrupting the dark altar, weakening the necromancer’s spellcasting. Victory lifts the curse, the windmill’s blades turn once more, and Kettlebrook is restored to life.
Release Date: 2023
Format: Digital (PDF)
Items Included
- Plague of Kettlebrook 5E (PDF)
- A B&W Printer-Friendly Version (PDF)
- Maps
- Illustrations (Generated with Midjourney)
- Monster Stat Blocks
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