The Source

The Tournament at Scornubel (by Bill Volk)¹ was one of the adventures that were used to playtest Into the Dungeon: Revived.

The Conversion

Only the parts that need to be adjusted are listed here. Setting-specific details are omitted.

Contents

• Arrival
• Tournament
• Investigation
• Rewards

Arrival ↩

Shopping

• most prices are doubled
• clubs, staffs, and blunted tourney swords (d6 Damage) cost 5s
• common room lodging in the Western Glow Inn for 2p per person per night
• the tournament entry fee is 1s per person per contest

Conducting the adventure

Alternate one avenue of Investigation with the next Tournament event. The party might also split to cover a couple of investigation routes simultaneously.

Investigation ↩

The Gambling Hall

Gambling is a contest of WIL.^{ItDR, p.28} A character who earns 100s or more will gain the attention of the guests, who will refuse to gamble any more against such a skilled player.

Alerting the Authorities

As per the original.

Searching for Felix

As per the original, no check is required.

Searching for Devon

As per the original, by asking local shopkeepers, no check is required.

Confronting Devon

No check is required to find Devon's camp.

If intimidated, Devon must succeed on a WIL Save (10) or spill out more information.

Devon will sell his caged rust monsters for 50s each, or make another wooden sword laced with rust monster fibres for 25s. The sword will lose its potency after 3 hours.

Rust Monster

STR 13, DEX 12, WIL 6, 5hp, Armour 1, d6 Bite, Antennae.

Antennae: the target must succeed on a DEX Save or metal armour, weapon, or another object is corroded. Armour or shield: Armour value is reduced by one, down to 0 when the armour is destroyed completely. Weapons: the Damage die is lowered by one; after d4, the weapon is destroyed completely.

The Shrine

The hidden door leads to Secure Shelter^{ItDR, p.16} hidden by the Mystic's Private Sanctum^{ItDR, p.17} Spell. Any character spying on the area must succeed on a DEX Save to get close enough to overhear the password.

• 7 nobles DEX 12, WIL 16, 3hp, Armour 1 (light), rapier and dagger (2d6).
• 10 guards STR 13, DEX 12, 3hp, Armour 2 (light+shield), spear (d6/d8).
• 5 mystics^a
• Kyman Hexhammer (see The Spellcasting Contest)
• Felix (see The Grand Melee)

^a Hexhammer Mystic

STR 9, DEX 14, WIL 11, 9hp, dagger (d6), Expert Mystic.

Spell Tome (^ - signature spell, * - prepared spell):
C: flare, light/douse, magic hand, prestidigitation
1: magic missile*, shield^
2: blur^, scorching ray*
3: haste/slow^, suggestion*

Confronting Sir Egan

To know the history of Sir Egan, the Character must succeed on a Knowledge Roll (4-in-6 for nobles and locals, 2-in-6 for others, except foreigners who do not get a chance to know this info).

Tournament ↩

Day 1, Event 1 - The Archery Contest

To hit the target, the characters must succeed on a DEX Save, reducing their roll by the Damage roll of the weapon.

Qualifying Round

To pass the qualifying round, the character must hit three targets. These DEX Saves will be done at Advantage.

Elimination Rounds

• Each round all participants shoot once, and each result is recorded.
• All who missed are eliminated unless every contestant missed this round.
• If all contestants hit the target, the character with the words (highest) result is eliminated.
• A roll of 5 or lower that matches the result of another shot in the same round means that the new arrow pierces the shaft of the previous arrow. The contestant whose arrow was pierced will be eliminated if there are no other arrows further from the bull's eye, even though both shots were technically in the same place.
• A character can cheat at drawing lots and take any place in the shooting order by succeeding on a DEX Save.

NPC contestants who pass the elimination round

Aelis Featherer

DEX 12, antler bow (d6).

Mats of Elturel

STR 12, DEX 14, heavy crossbow (d8).

Clarin Barrows

DEX 15, magical short bow of osage orange wood (d6+d4).

Thrump "Poison-Talker" Gelan-Goleon

STR 17, DEX 13, enormous yew longbow (d6), Sharpshooter (after the first shot, gains bonus weapon Damage die on the same target).

Day 1, Event 2 - The Clash of Poets

Qualifying Round

The contestants must sing the national anthem. Any local character will know the anthem and other ones must succeed on a Knowledge Roll. The characters who do not know the anthem can imitate other contestants by succeeding on a WIL Save.

Elimination Rounds

The remaining contestants are placed in random order determined by drawing straws. A character who tries cheating to go first in the first round must succeed on a DEX Save, or be caught and eliminated. Each round after the first starts with the contestant sitting to the right from the eliminated one.

Round order difficulty:

1. WIL Save
2. WIL Save + d4
3. WIL Save + d6
4. WIL Save + d8
5. WIL Save + d10
6. WIL Save + d12

If nobody is eliminated by that point, repeat the same sequence at Disadvantage.

NPC contestants who pass the elimination round

Brickers Plaingraver

WIL 15, polished steel drums.

Elistan the Eloquent

WIL 16, high harp in the shape of a maiden extending a sceptre.

Paula the Poetaster

WIL 17, small viol, Ribald Reputation.

Ribald Reputation: any minstrel (or a character who succeeds on an appropriate Knowledge Roll) will know that Paula has a history of performing cruel satire and vulgar humour even if it means her hosts will throw her out. Between rounds, a character can attempt to convince Paula to sing something so obscene that the judges will eliminate her immediately. Paula must succeed on a WIL Save to resist the temptation.

Xilmarax of Ched Nasad

WIL 19, Suspicious (Disadvantage on all Saves in the contest).

Day 1, Event 3 - The Horse Race

Qualifying round

The participants must succeed on a WIL or DEX Save, and their mounts must succeed on a STR Save.

Final Race

For each lap, all mounts must succeed on a STR Save, and then the remaining riders must succeed on a WIL or DEX Save. Repeat until a single winner is left.

NPC contestants who pass the elimination round

Ellison Ellison

DEX 13; Mount: STR 16.

Amnon-Hesh

WIL 16; Mount: STR 17.

Myra Howdahcobbler

WIL 15; Mount: STR 15.

Devon of the Split Shield

DEX 14; Mount: STR 12.

Day 1, Event 4 - The Spellcasting Contest

Qualifying round

Each contestant has three combat turns to do as much damage as possible to a training dummy by Spells only (weapons and magic items are forbidden). The characters must deal 10 or more Damage to pass.

Elimination rounds

The eight remaining Mystics face each other in one-to-one rounds until only one remains. As before, weapons and magic items are forbidden. Contestants are not allowed to have magical effects active on themselves before the round begins.

Grounds for elimination:

• moving out of bounds of 50 feet wide square arena (including blinking or teleporting)
• conceding (even if charmed)
• falling unconscious
• using Spells that are likely to cause death

NPC contestants who pass the elimination round

Malavok of Tiriel

WIL 16, 11hp, Expert Mystic, Advantage on Saves against mind control magic.

Spell Tome (^ - signature spell, * - prepared spell):
C: acid splash, arcane mark, daze, ghost sound
1: burning hands^, hideous laughter*
2: mirror image*, scorching ray^
3: blink^, fly*

Myra Howdahcobbler

STR 8, DEX 14, WIL 15, 13hp, Expert Mystic, Advantage on WIL Saves against magic.

Spell Tome (^ - signature spell, * - prepared spell):
0: acid splash, hide, ghost sound, prestidigitation
1: colour spray*, magic missile^
2: bull's strength^, shatter*
3: fireball^, shout*

Kyman Hexhammer

WIL 17, 18hp, Veteran Mystic.

Spell Tome (^ - signature spell, * - prepared spell):
0: flare, detect magic, ghost sound, guided strike, magic hand, spark
1: charm person*, gust of wind*, shocking grasp^
2: scorching ray^
3: displacement*, lightning bolt^
4: bestow curse*, confusion^

Day 1, Event 5 - The Pie-Eating Contest

A character can convince the organizers to be seated at the champions' table by succeeding on a WIL Save. Noble characters, those who won a contest earlier in the tournament, or characters who are unusually large do not need to make this Save at all. Those not seated at the champions' table will not be able to receive more than four pies without cheating.

Each pie after the first two requires increasingly difficult Saves:

3. STR Save
4. STR Save + d4
5. STR Save + d6
6. STR Save + d8
7. STR Save + d10
8. STR Save + d12

On a failed Save, the character cannot continue eating.

A character can attempt to succeed on a DEX Save to steal a plate to unfairly increase the score, or to cleverly dispose of a pie without eating them. This can be repeated multiple times, but each subsequent attempt will be harder by d4, d6, etc.

Once all contestants have finished eating, the plates are counted. If two contestants are tied, the winner will be chosen randomly.

NPC contestants

Simon Sack-of-Potatoes

STR 13, Advantage on eating Saves.

Sir Turston

STR 16, Considerate Bridegroom.

Considerate Bridegroom: Sir Turston can be convinced to stop eating by a character who points out his wife's displeasure and succeeds on a WIL Save.

Thrump "Poison-Talker" Gelan-Goleon

STR 17.

Faralda Blackbanner

STR 15, Advantage on eating Saves.

The Conspirators Strike Back

If player characters have alerted Sir Egan or the Hexhammer clan, they will try to poison all the characters whose faces they have seen. With a successful WIL Save, a character can notice that the servant bringing them their first pie is one of the Hexhammers' pages. On a failed STR Save, the poison will affect the character by dropping DEX to 0, thus paralyzing the character for d4 days.

The Night Before the Joust

If the characters have alerted Sir Egan or the Hexhammers to danger and are still in Scornubel, a band of River Wraiths will attempt to assassinate the characters in their sleep just after the stroke of midnight. Each assailant must succeed on a DEX Save to perform an ambush.

Any characters with the Criminal background will be recognized by the assassins and will not be targeted first. Such a character can succeed on a WIL Save or offer them at least 1g each to convince them to call off the attack.

• Bandits (4) STR 11, DEX 12, 3hp, Armour 1 (light), sword (d6/d8), crossbow (d6).
• Assassin (1) STR 11, DEX 16, 12hp, Armour 1 (light), twin daggers (4d6), Assassin, Proven Warrior.

Day 2, Event 6 - The Joust

Qualifying round

The characters must succeed on a WIL Save with Advantage to jump over the fence and salute the audience.

Elimination rounds

A character must win four jousts in a row to be named champion.

Each turn the jousters attack each other once with their lances. Player characters must succeed on a DEX Save to attack first. When hit, a character must succeed on a STR Save, adding the taken Damage to the roll, to stay in the saddle. A jouster is also eliminated on a failed Critical Damage Save.

NPC contestants who pass the elimination round

Amnon-Hesh

STR 13, DEX 16, WIL 16, 8hp, Armour 2 (full), heavy lance (d10).

Sir Nergal Kimbatuul

STR 17, WIL 13, 12hp, Armour 2 (full), lance (d8+d6), Proven Warrior.

Sir Horace of Cormyr

STR 15, DEX 12, 12hp, Armour 2 (full), lance (d8+d6), Proven Warrior.

Eberk who Laughs at Devils

STR 16, DEX 11, 16hp, Armour 2 (full), lance (d8+d4), Berserker (d10+d4 after taking Damage), Warrior.

Day 2, Event 7 - The Grand Melee

• The only weapons allowed are clubs, staffs, and blunted tourney swords (d6 Damage).
• Contestants are eliminated by being knocked unconscious, by yielding, or by being forced out of bounds.
• Spells that kill or deal damage are not allowed.
• Flying or ethereal characters will be considered out of bounds.

NPC contestants

• Sir Egan and four other knights: STR 16, DEX 11, WIL 15, 8hp, Armour 2 (full), blunt greatsword (2h, d6+d4), Commander, Warrior.^b
• A mob of 10 peasants: Unit (10): 3hp, staff (d6).^{ItDR, p.10}
• Three gladiators: STR 18, DEX 15, WIL 15, 12hp, Armour 1 (light), club (d6).

^b Sir Egan's sword is laced with Rust Monster fibres.

Felix

STR 18, DEX 8, WIL 3, 15hp, Armour 2, 2d6 Fists, Regeneration, Metal Construct.

Regeneration: restores 1hp and 1 STR at the start of its combat turn.

Metal Construct: each strike from Rust Monster antennae will reduce Felix's Armour by one, and will start dealing direct Damage to its STR Score afterwards.

Rewards ↩

1. Archery Contest

• 250s
• Ubar the Smith, a magical quiver. Always holds one arrow, one bolt, and one javelin made of semitransparent blue magical force. They ignore all supernatural resistances but deal normal Damage (as per weapon, d4 for the javelin). When a force object drawn from the quiver hits a target or spends a round outside of the quiver, it disappears and the quiver creates a replacement with a loud sound of ringing hammers.

2. The Clash of Poets

• 150s
• The Hurdy-Gurdy of Exquisite Doggerel, a magical instrument. While playing it, you can cast the following spells (once per day each): Hideous Laughter, Hypnotism, Deafness, Gust of Wind, Shatter.^{ItDR, p.13-14}

3. The Horse Race

• 150s
• Clia's Deliverance, a magic saddle. Changes size to fit any mount, grants +1 Armour to the mount, once per day you can use the saddle to cast Enlarge/Reduce^{ItDR, p.13} on both you and the mount.

4. The Spellcasting Contest

• 150s
• Wizard's Winch, a magical staff (d6/d8), charge [4] to cast Levitate^{ItDR, p.14} along with this turn's attack or separately.

5. The Pie-Eating Contest

• 50s
• Table Manners, a gilt-handled magic dagger that looks more like a large eating utensil than a weapon. When the silvery blade gets too close to living flesh, it turns completely limp and soft and thus cannot deal damage to living creatures. However, against nonliving targets such as undead, constructs, and inanimate objects, the dagger deals d8 Damage.

6. The Joust

• 500s
• Lady Constance, a magic longsword (d8/d10) that can transform into a lance (d10, mounted only) and back on command.

7. The Grand Melee

• 250s
• The Inspector-General, a magical suit of studded leather armour (Armour 1). While wearing it, you can cast Alter Self on yourself once per day, assuming the appearance of a man — always the same particular man, a government official from an ancient empire where this armour was created.

Rewards for the foiled plot

• a garland made of gilded leaves (costs 1g);
• extra 50s to each participant;
• a Scroll of Magic Circle;^{ItDR, p.15}
• Simon's prize (if he wins the contest);
• letters of recommendation to distinguished participants in joust and melee.

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