TEXT:  
   
  1 
   
   
   
  A 2nd level 13th AGE adventure  
  in four two-hour sessions 
  By ASH LAW 
  Return to  
  Screamhaunt  
  Castle 
   
  
   
   
  2 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Author: ASH LAW 
  Developer: Rob Heinsoo  
  Cartography & Cards by: ASH LAW 
  Layout: ASH LAW 
  Cover: ASH LAW 
  ©2016 Fire Opal Media, Inc. Produced by arrangement Pelgrane Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Product Identity: The following 
  items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open 
  Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names (characters, icons, place names, new deities, etc.), dialogue, banter 
  and comments from Jonathan and Rob or ASH, plots, story elements, locations, characters, artwork, trade dress, and the ‘arcana 
  deck’. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content are not included in this declaration.) Open Content: 
  Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Fire Opal Media, Inc. game product are 
  Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the 
  material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission. 13th Age is published by 
  Pelgrane Press Ltd. under the Open Game License version 1.0a Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 13th Age is a trademark of 
  Fire Opal Media, Inc. ©2016 Fire Opal Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 
   
   
  Return to  
  Screamhaunt  
  Castle 
   
  
   
   
  3 
   
  Contents 
  Session 1: The Curse of Gravenstein .... 5 
  Running this session .............................. 5 
  What has come before ........................... 5 
  Icon rolls ................................................... 5 
  Hearthside tales ...................................... 5 
  Arrival in Gravenstein ......................... 6 
  Madame Vex ............................................... 7 
  The Storm ................................................... 9 
  Flooded Graveyard ............................... 10 
  The Lost Tomb ........................................ 11 
  Into the grave ........................................ 12 
  Session 2: The Tomb of Sir Scrimhunt
   ......................................................................... 13 
  Running this session ............................ 13 
  What has come before ......................... 13 
  Icon rolls ................................................. 13 
  Journey to the dark .............................. 13 
  The ante-chamber .................................. 13 
  Room 1: Trophy Room ........................... 14 
  Room 2: Grave Goods ........................... 14 
  Room 3: Ossuary ..................................... 14 
  Room 4: Portrait Room ....................... 14 
  Room 5: Armor Display ........................ 15 
  The Guardian .......................................... 16 
  Sir Scrimhunt Appears ......................... 17 
  Luminous Passage .................................. 17 
  Session 3: The Return of Screamhaunt 
  Castle ............................................................ 18 
  Running this session ............................ 18 
  What has come before ......................... 18 
  New characters ...................................... 18 
  Icon rolls ................................................ 18 
  Banners of the Great Hall ................ 18 
  Exploration ............................................. 18 
  Open graves .......................................... 19 
  The lion crematoria .......................... 20 
  The rats ................................................. 20 
  The pool of blood .............................. 20 
  The shadows in the library .............. 21 
  The kitchen ........................................... 21 
  The endless stair ................................. 21 
  The music box ....................................... 22 
  The greenhouse .................................... 22 
  The ballroom ....................................... 22 
  The ghost of Magister Wurst .......... 23 
  The Red Bedroom .................................. 24 
  Session 4: The Unfolding of 
  Screamhaunt Castle ................................ 25 
  Running this session ............................ 25 
  What has come before ......................... 25 
  New characters ...................................... 25 
  Icon rolls ................................................ 25 
  Dreams in the Red Bedroom .............. 25 
  Exploration ............................................. 26 
  The mirror ............................................ 26 
  The attic ................................................ 26 
  The hall of dragons........................... 26 
  The fresco hallway ............................ 27 
  The portrait and the empty chair ... 27 
  The bloody message ............................ 28 
  The nursery ........................................... 28 
  The trophy room ................................. 29 
  The corridor ........................................ 29 
  
   
   
  4 
   
  The long hallway ............................... 29 
  Gravenstein appears ............................. 30 
  The curse is lifted (or is it?) ............. 32 
  Fleeing the last battle (lose) ........... 32 
  Keep the heart (draw) ........................ 32 
  Destroy the heart (win) .................... 32 
   
   
   
  
   
   
  5 
   
  Session 1: The 
  Curse of 
  Gravenstein 
  Running this session 
  This session is designed for 2nd level characters. 
  At the end of the session, each character should 
  gain an incremental advance.  
  The 
  session, 
  as 
  written, 
  should 
  take 
  approximately two hours. 
  What has come before 
  Icon rolls 
  At the start of the session remember to ask each 
  player 
  to 
  roll 
  their 
  adventurer’s 
  icon 
  relationships. Generally speaking a 6 can be 
  traded in for a clear benefit, a 5 when traded in 
  will benefit the adventurer or party but there will 
  be an associated complication, obligation, or 
  drawback. 
  This first session is a good time to identify the 
  icons who have a stake in the adventure, and to 
  think about how to bring in elements that include 
  the influences of those icons. 
  Hearthside tales 
  Read this aloud: 
  Years ago on a stormy autumn night a festive 
  gathering was held at the cursed Scrimhunt 
  Castle, known locally as “Screamhaunt”. The 
  castle’s curse was activated, and the castle came 
  alive, killing the guests. Some of the guests, brave 
  adventurers, managed to defeat the castle, and 
  escape. 
  The defeated castle folded in upon itself and 
  disappeared. Since then there have been rumors 
  of its reappearance on stormy nights, a ghostly 
  castle that is gone by the time anybody can 
  investigate. Each time the castle appears it is in a 
  new place.  
  Some of the icons have been tracking these 
  ghostly occurrences, and have determined that 
  the castle is making its way toward the town of 
  Gravenstein. 
  A group of brave heroes has been dispatched 
  to the village. You are those heroes. Your task: to 
  investigate the castle and deal with any threats. 
  This is a montage scene. The point of this 
  montage is to describe the meeting of the 
  adventurers. 
  Describe to the players how their characters 
  meet discretely at a tavern in Axis called the 
  Trumpet 
  and 
  Horn, 
  prior 
  to 
  heading 
  to 
  Gravenstein. 
  Turn to the first player and ask them to 
  describe a tale that they have heard about the 
  character of the player to their left. Then turn to 
  the second player and ask them to either confirm 
  the truth of the tale and supply further details, or 
  to deny the tale outright and set the record 
  straight. Go around the table until everybody has 
  had a chance to tell a tale about another character, 
  and to either elaborate on their own legend or to 
  set the record straight. 
  This is a great time for the players to highlight 
  their One Unique Things, or to establish pre-
  existing relationships. 
  For example: 
  Player 1: Well I heard that Thuddar the Barbarian 
  once ate a whole bear. 
  GM: Is that true? 
  
   
   
  6 
   
  Player 2: Yes, Thuddar actually ate it live—as befits a 
  barbarian chieftain. It’s how you get to be chieftain 
  in the Bear Clan! 
  Or… 
  Player 1: Well I heard that Thuddar the Barbarian 
  once ate a whole bear. 
  GM: Is that true? 
  Player 2: No, Thuddar is a vegetarian, as are all 
  members of the Bear Clan! You might be thinking of 
  the time when Thuddar freed a bear and in return it 
  taught him how to speak the secret language of bears. 
  With a montage you don’t need to 
  roll any dice—this is purely 
  narrative play. Montages are useful 
  for skipping over parts of the story 
  that are less exciting than what 
  comes later, but still acknowledge 
  that the event happened or a location or relationship 
  has been established. The second point of the 
  montage is to introduce new characters. The third 
  purpose of a montage is to re-introduce existing 
  characters, reminding everybody of their abilities 
  and personalities and relationships. 
  Arrival in Gravenstein 
  The adventurers arrive in Gravenstein as the mist 
  is rising from the floor of the valley that gently 
  cradles the town. 
  Gravenstein is famous for its stonecarvers and 
  masons, and provided much of the stonework for 
  the Cathedral in Santa Cora (though the building 
  owes more to the magic of the Archmage and the 
  power of the gods than the skill of the masons of 
  Gravenstein). 
  Through the center of the town runs the river 
  Graven, a tributary of a much larger river that 
  feeds into the Midland Sea. On the banks of the 
  Graven are the stonemason’s warehouses and 
  their docks from which they ship their 
  ornamental produce. Surrounding the town are 
  high walls, built by solid dwarven workmanship.  
  Outside the town walls and on the southern 
  side of town are a smattering of farms, but the 
  majority of food is traded for from villages and 
  towns elsewhere. It being autumn the fields have 
  just been harvested of barley, but there are still 
  plenty of pumpkins growing. 
  In the center of Gravenstein is a small imperial 
  fort, home to the local garrison.  
  The people of Gravenstein for the most part 
  are a mix of surface-dwelling dwarves and 
  humans, though there are members of all races in 
  the town; they pause in their work to look at the 
  armed adventurers as they ride into town. 
  This is a perfect time to introduce 
  aspects 
  that 
  play 
  to 
  the 
  adventurers’ backgrounds and icon 
  relationships. If there is a definite 
  pro-Elf Queen slant to the party 
  mention how the town walls are 
  topped by filigreed stonework of obvious elven 
  design. If the party has negative icon relationships 
  with the Prince of Shadows make sure to describe 
  the corpses displayed on the city wall, executed for 
  thievery. If the party has a definite religious slant 
  then describe the many roadside shrines and the 
  religious carvings that adorn almost every building 
  in town.  
  Similarly if there is a character with a background 
  ‘Pie eating champion of Forge’ then make the day 
  that the party arrives the local pumpkin pie festival. 
  This part of the adventure is pretty free-form. 
  There are a trio of taverns in town (The Red 
  Dragon Inn, The Dog and Star, and the Stonecutter’s 
  Arms), some temples to visit, the imperial 
  garrison and city walls, and plenty of common 
  folks going about their business.  
  The adventurers are free to do anything that 
  they wish, but you should remind the players 
  why their adventurers are there: Screamhaunt 
  Castle is approaching and will likely arrive on the 
  next storm. If the party starts to lose its way 
  narratively, remind the players that they are in 
  town expecting to investigate a ghostly castle, 
  and that a storm is coming that night. In other 
  words if the players decide to start a random barfight 
  it’s time to bring in the thunder and lightning. 
  If the adventurers’ time in town is spent 
  gathering information on the locale it will 
  definitely get them a benefit. If a character spends 
  time interacting with the town and its inhabitants 
  let them make a skill roll appropriate to what 
  they are up to (DC 15), and on a success let the 
  player know that their character has obtained 
  information that will be useful later. You don’t 
  
   
   
  7 
   
  have to specify what the information is, let the 
  player tell you what they learned later in the 
  adventure. 
  For example if a player succeeds at the skill check 
  they could later tell you during the flooded graveyard 
  fight that they learned a local legend about the dead 
  buried there and you in turn would give them a +1 to 
  an attack roll. 
  It is a good idea to have physical tokens to 
  hand out to show the benefit gained, tokens that 
  the players hand in when they tell you what the 
  benefit was. 
  As the adventurers explore the town the 
  townsfolk keep mentioning a local fortune teller, 
  Madame Vex, who foretold their arrival. 
  Madame Vex 
  While exploring the town of Gravenstein the 
  adventurers come across an impressively painted 
  building, replete with signs indicating a fortune 
  teller. The sign above the door reads ‘Madame 
  Vex, True Seer’, and the door opens as the 
  adventurers stand in the street. 
  GMs: If the adventurers are hesitant about going 
  inside let them know that it has the sign of an icon that 
  they are allied with carved unobtrusively on the lintel 
  of the door. This of course was carved recently, 
  Madame Vex really can see the future, wants the 
  adventurer’s gold, and foresaw that such a carving 
  would help. 
  The interior is much what you’d expect—all 
  incense and beaded curtains. Sitting, as though 
  expecting them, is the tiefling Madame Vex. She 
  greets the adventurers by name. 
  “Ah, you have come as the castle arrives, to defeat 
  a returning evil. I have seen you in the cards. Come, 
  sit, and I will read your fortune. All I ask is that you 
  pay thirty silver coins for each card I turn for you.” 
  She displays a deck of cards for them, a 
  fortune-telling device known widely in the 
  Dragon Empire as an ‘arcana deck’. The deck of 
  cards also has eight suits of numbered cards 
  (Hearts, Chalices, Trees, Suns, Leaves, Moons, Gems, 
  and Stars), but none of those will come up in her 
  readings—the adventurers will only get the 
  impressive-looking 
  trump 
  cards 
  in 
  their 
  readings. At the back of this adventure I’ve 
  included a full arcana deck for you to print out 
  and use as a prop at the table. 
  Thirty silver coins comes to three gold pieces, 
  and she says that a standard reading from her 
  consists of four cards, so that’s twelve gold per 
  adventurer who wants their fortune told. She’s 
  willing to haggle, and the adventurers might 
  even be able to get their fortunes told for free if 
  they haggle or just downright refuse to pay. 
  When Madame Vex turns over her cards roll a d20 
  four times per adventurer for the full reading that she 
  provides (don’t worry about interpreting the readings 
  now, all will become clear during the adventure!): 
  1. The Asterism—Three large red stars, above 
  a constellation that looks like are a trio of 
  monsters, possibly dragons. “Sometimes there 
  are no good choices, and you must choose what is 
  least-worse…such a moment approaches for you”. 
  2. The Crowned Sun—A sun, with a golden 
  crown above it. “Light can reveal hidden truths, 
  or blind you to the obvious. Perseverance will be 
  rewarded, but do not delay in acting when the 
  time is right”. 
  3. The Eye of Night—The moon, painted light 
  blue/cyan, with a dark hole in it like a cat’s 
  silted pupil. “You will be watched, be sure of 
  who your allies and enemies are”. 
  4. The Fountain—A golden fountain flows 
  beneath a mountain. “Some will prosper, some 
  will wither, and your choice will determine who 
  suffers”. 
  5. The Greater Gem—A sapphire sits above a 
  coiled serpent. “Great treasure awaits, but 
  obtaining it means taking a risk that will change 
  you forever”. 
  6. The Green Leaf—A green leaf, supported on 
  both sides by stags as though the leaf were a 
  heraldic shield, the stag on the right has a 
  golden crown around its neck. “Some choices 
  are out of your hands; some fates are sealed”. 
  7. The Hanging Tree—An oak with orange 
  autumn foliage stands alone, an empty noose 
  dangling from a branch on the right side, and 
  a hanged body hanging on the left side. “Past 
  misdeeds will always find you, and rewards for 
  good deeds will not always be what you expect”. 
  8. The Hidden Star—A purple pentagram with 
  candles burning at its points, one of the 
  
   
   
  8 
   
  candles has gone out. “Magic is the answer to 
  your problems, but don’t rely on magic alone”. 
  9. The Huntress—A green-hooded woman 
  stands in front of two golden lionesses. 
  “Beware! You must take care not to concentrate 
  too much on the past lest you are taken unawares 
  by the present”. 
  10. The 
  Jester—A 
  blindfolded 
  jester 
  in 
  traditional fool’s motley holds an unlit 
  lantern. “If it’s stupid and it works, it wasn’t 
  stupid. Fortune will smile on you, however don’t 
  test your luck too much”. 
  11. The Key—A grinning skeleton dances before 
  a locked door, a golden key in its bony hand. 
  “To move forwards you must leave something 
  behind”. 
  12. The Masked Lover—A figure dressed in 
  silks reclines on a bed, their identity hidden 
  by their garments and a white mask. Above 
  the figure is a magenta heart. “Help will come 
  to you from an unexpected quarter: you can 
  always rely upon your friends, but don’t let your 
  enemies fool you”. 
  13. The Mirror—On this card a man in white 
  looks into a mirror, but what is reflected 
  there is a woman in red ... or if you look at the 
  card another way it is the woman looking 
  into the mirror and the man is her reflection. 
  “You must discover a new side to yourself, a past 
  talent long forgotten will be remembered or a new 
  skill will be learned. Also, don’t take things to 
  literally”. 
  14. The Princess—A woman in all-concealing 
  red robes sits on a throne, cradling something 
  in her arms. The card is smudged; it is hard 
  to tell what she is cradling. “A challenge can be 
  overcome easily, if you trust in yourself”. 
  15. The Red Chalice—A ruby-bejeweled cup 
  holds a red liquid, perhaps wine, perhaps 
  blood. “A choice you make between two things 
  will rely upon taking a risk, but failure to act at 
  all will spell doom”. 
  16. The Rose—A rose sits in the center of a circle 
  of thorny rose-stems. “Things of great beauty 
  often cause pain, but ugliness is no virtue”. 
  17. The Tower—A trio of hooded figures stand 
  in front of a tower as lightning strikes it. “You 
  might be able to right a past wrong, but only by 
  sacrificing something”. 
  18. The Vizier—A grey-bearded man in a 
  monk’s robes holds a golden dagger in one 
  hand, and a pair of golden scales in the other. 
  “Listen to advice, but trust your own instincts. 
  Your choices will have consequences that you 
  cannot foresee”. 
  19. The Wandering King—A figure in blue 
  armor sits in the saddle of a horse, gazing off 
  at something only he can see. “You can’t save 
  everyone, nor safeguard against all things, but a 
  quick wit and preparation can save the day”. 
  20. The Winged Heart—A scarlet heart is held 
  aloft by white wings. “Your strength needs to 
  be properly applied”. 
  GMs: Record who gets which card, you will need 
  this information in the sessions to come later in the 
  adventure. 
  Whether or not the adventurers get a reading 
  from Madame Vex, she tells them that she knows 
  that the ghost of ‘Screamhaunt’ will appear soon 
  on a hill just outside town. The castle is being 
  drawn to the burial place of the first lord of the 
  castle, Sir Scrimhunt. Madame Vex lets the 
  adventurers 
  know 
  that 
  nobody 
  locally 
  remembers where the nobleman was buried, but 
  she’s sure that one of the graves in the graveyard 
  outside of town must be his. She instructs them 
  to wait in the graveyard that surrounds the hill, 
  telling them that they don’t want to be standing 
  atop the hill when the castle materializes. 
  GMs: If the adventurers refuse to listen to the 
  hints that the townsfolk give them to go see Madame 
  Vex, and they refuse to enter her home, then eventually 
  she’ll go to see them instead. The only difference 
  between meeting her in her home and meeting her in a 
  tavern or on the road is she’ll charge them double for a 
  reading. 
  By the way, you have our permission to print out 
  the ‘arcana deck’ at the back of this adventure for use 
  as a prop at the table. I’ve included the non-face cards 
  too (Hearts, Chalices, Trees, Suns, Leaves, Moons, 
  Gems, and Stars), and the card backs. 
  
   
   
  9 
   
   
   
  Way north  
  to the Cemetery 
   
  Imperial 
  Garrison 
   
  Plowed fields 
  outside the walls 
   
  House of  
  Madame Vex 
   
  Red Dragon Inn 
   
  The Dog & Star 
  Tavern 
   
  Stonecutter’s  
  Arms 
   
  River Graven 
   
  Greengrave 
  Woods 
   
  Town of Gravenstein 
   
  
   
   
  10 
   
  The Storm 
  Once the adventurers have met Madame Vex the 
  oncoming storm hits with sudden force. Leaves 
  are blown from the autumnal trees, and the wind 
  whips the rain sideways. 
  The stormy sky starts to swirl around a hill 
  outside of Gravenstein, lightning striking at it. If 
  the adventurers are already headed to the hill 
  outside of town due to Madame Vex’s advice, the 
  storm catches them in the open, soaking them to 
  the bone. If the adventurers have no clue about 
  where to go, the storm gives a strong visual 
  clue—the constant lightning strikes on the hill 
  that rises above the graveyard is a huge signpost. 
  Regardless of where the adventurers were 
  when the storm started, in town or on the road, it 
  arrives 
  before the 
  adventurers reach 
  the 
  graveyard. 
  Flooded Graveyard 
  The storm is supernatural in nature, and 
  concentrating all its fury upon the hill at the 
  center of the graveyard. 
  As the adventurers arrive the graveyard 
  begins to flood. Wooden caskets come out of the 
  ground, floating among the gravestones.  
  The storm reaches an unnatural intensity, and 
  the ghostly Screamhaunt Castle appears on the 
  hill. However, before the adventurers can move 
  toward it, undead rise from the flooded ground 
  and attack the adventurers. 
  Due to the flood and the sucking mire that the 
  ground beneath the water has become, during 
  this fight the adventurers cannot double-move in 
  a round, and all creatures have a -4 penalty to 
  disengage checks. 
  Number of 
  PCs 
  Ghoul 
  Newly Risen 
  Ghoul 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  4 
  2 
  10 
  5 
  3 
  7 
  6 
  3 
  13 
  GHOUL 
  They hunger only for what they used to be. 
  3rd level spoiler [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +8 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Claws and bite +8 vs. AC—8 damage  
  Natural even hit: The target is vulnerable 
  (attacks vs. it have crit range expanded by 2) 
  to attacks by undead until the end of the 
  ghoul’s next turn. 
   
  Pound of flesh: The ghoul’s claws and bite attack 
  deals +4 damage against vulnerable targets. 
   
  Infected bite: Any creature that is slain by a ghoul 
  and not consumed will rise as a ghoul the next 
  night. 
   
  Nastier Specials 
  Paralyzing bite: When the ghoul hits a vulnerable 
  target with a natural even attack roll, the target 
  is also stunned (save ends). 
   
  AC 
  18 
  PD 
  16 
   
  HP 36 
  MD 12 
  Newly-Risen Ghoul 
  2nd level mook [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +5 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Scrabbling claws +7 vs. AC—3 damage 
  Natural 16+: The target is vulnerable (attacks vs. 
  it have crit range expanded by 2) to attacks 
  by undead until the end of the ghoul’s next 
  turn. 
   
  Pound of flesh: The newly-risen ghoul’s scrabbling 
  claws 
  attack 
  deals 
  +2 
  damage 
  against 
  vulnerable targets. 
   
  AC 
  17 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 9 (mook) 
  MD 11 
  Mook: Kill one newly-risen ghoul mook for every 
  9 damage you deal to the mob. 
  
   
   
  11 
   
  The Lost Tomb 
  When the adventurers have finished the fight 
  against the undead, the storm passes, and the 
  water begins to drain from the graveyard. The 
  castle is nowhere to be seen, unfortunately. 
  That’s right, it’s gone!  
  However, the flood uncovered the long-lost 
  grave of Sir Scrimhaunt. The grave consists of a 
  huge stone slab carved with the dead noble’s 
  likeness.  
  The adventurers have a short time to rest and 
  explore the graveyard and the site of the tomb. 
  Fortunately, the slab that covers the grave is right 
  in the middle of the area where the adventurers 
  were recently fighting. You could even say that 
  they don’t spot it at first but use the slab as a 
  convenient place to sit while getting the water out 
  of their boots, and then the adventurers notice to 
  their horror that they are seated on Sir 
  Scrimhunt’s grave. 
  It is a DC 30 skill check to move the slab (or 
  DC 25 if multiple characters cooperate). Beneath 
  the slab is a stairway leading downwards, with 
  water receding down the steps as the effects of 
  the supernatural storm vanish. 
  As the adventurers start down the stairs they 
  meet undead coming the other way… 
  GMs: If the party is taking too long to move the 
  stone slab, or refuse to engage with it, then the zombies 
  coming up the stairs blow the lid right off and pour 
  out. Give the zombies a surprise round, so two of them 
  can act before normal initiative. 
  Number of 
  PCs 
  Zombie 
  Shuffler 
  Human 
  Zombie 
  3 
  4 
  1 
  4 
  4 
  2 
  5 
  4 
  3 
  6 
  4 
  4 
   
  Zombie Shuffler 
  “Mwauurgh . . .” 
  1st level mook [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +0 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Rotting fist +5 vs. AC—3 damage 
  Natural 16+: Both the zombie and its target take 
  1d4 damage! 
   
  Headshot: A critical hit against a zombie shuffler 
  deals triple damage instead of the normal 
  double damage for a crit. 
   
  AC 
  14 
  PD 
  12 
   
  HP 10 (mook) 
  MD 8 
  Mook: Kill one zombie shuffler mook for every 10 
  damage you deal to the mob. 
  Human Zombie 
  “Brains . . .” 
  2nd level troop [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +1 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Rotting fist +7 vs. AC—6 damage 
  Natural 16+: Both the zombie and its target take 
  1d6 damage! 
   
  Headshot: A critical hit against a zombie drops it 
  to 0 hp. 
   
  Nastier Specials 
  Eat brains: More dangerous zombies don’t try to 
  kill the moving targets before feasting on 
  brains; they keep attacking any enemy they’ve 
  knocked unconscious, rolling attacks against 
  the helpless enemy until it’s dead. 
   
  AC 
  15 
  PD 
  13 
   
  HP 60 
  MD 9 
   
   
  
   
   
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  Into the grave 
  From the stairs in the grave comes an unearthly 
  sound, as though of distant voices deep beneath 
  the earth. 
  When the adventurers set foot on the stairs 
  they can once again see the ghostly castle top the 
  hill, but once they are no longer on the stairs it 
  fades from view. Let the players know that it is 
  obvious that they must head down beneath the 
  graveyard to reach the castle. 
   
   
   
   
  
   
   
  13 
   
  Session 2: The 
  Tomb of Sir 
  Scrimhunt 
  Running this session 
  This session is designed for 2nd level characters. 
  At the end of the session, each character should 
  gain an incremental advance.  
  The 
  session, 
  as 
  written, 
  should 
  take 
  approximately two hours.  
  What has come before 
  The adventurers have been called upon to track 
  down and investigate a haunted castle, one that 
  is seemingly teleporting itself across the Dragon 
  Empire in search of something. 
  The adventurers have found the castle, or at 
  least a ghostly apparition of it, and located a way 
  in, steps leading down into the grave of Sir 
  Scrimhunt. 
  Icon rolls 
  At the start of the session remember to ask each 
  player 
  to 
  roll 
  their 
  adventurer’s 
  icon 
  relationships. Generally speaking a 6 can be 
  traded in for a clear benefit, a 5 when traded in 
  will benefit the adventurer or party but there will 
  be an associated complication, obligation, or 
  drawback. 
  Journey to the dark 
  As the adventurers descend into the grave their 
  minds are assaulted by a series of scary images 
  and ghoulish scenes. 
  This is a montage scene. The point of this 
  montage is to describe the scene on the stage.  
  Turn to the first player and ask them to 
  describe something that the adventurers half-see 
  or hear: far-off wailing, unearthly whispers, 
  worms that spell out a message, etc.—then turn 
  to the player to their right and ask them to say 
  how their character reacts to the things that the 
  adventurers experience on their journey down 
  into the grave. Go around the group until 
  everybody has had a chance to describe 
  something horrific, and everybody has had a 
  chance for their character to react to the horror.  
  This is a good opportunity for those whose 
  characters are renowned for their fearlessness to 
  show that off, and for those whose characters are 
  secretly superstitious to display a side of their 
  character that might not normally be seen. 
  GMs: Just how horrific you are willing to let 
  players go with these visions is down to you and your 
  relationship with your players—this montage is 
  intended to get everybody in the mood for a spooky 
  adventure, not to make the players (or you) 
  uncomfortable. If you are playing with friends you’ve 
  known for years you are probably safe to let the players 
  go nuts in this montage (or not, if you know better!). 
  If, however you are playing with a group of people that 
  you’ve known for only a few hours, then you should 
  probably ask them to limit the spooky stuff to 
  Halloween-store level frights.  
  The ante-chamber 
  The stairs lead down into an ante-chamber, a 
  brick-built barrel-vaulted room from which lead 
  five doors made of bone.  
  Once they enter the ante-chamber the tunnel 
  through which they descended collapses behind 
  them, trapping the adventurers in the tomb. 
  Maybe it is ghostly activity that causes the tunnel 
  to collapse, maybe it is just an old tunnel through 
  recently waterlogged soil. 
  The glass coffin 
  In the center of the room is a glass coffin in which 
  is a withered corpse. At the head of the coffin is a 
  candelabra with five candle holders. The candle 
  holders of the candelabra are empty, but are 
  coated with black wax. 
  The doors 
  The doors are made of interlocking bones, 
  fitted together so carefully that they seem to be 
  carved from a behemoth’s ivory rather than 
  assembled from separate bones. 
  Each of the doors can be opened easily, but the 
  doors can only be opened one at a time—if a door 
  is no other door will allow itself to be moved. It 
  takes a minute to open a door, as they are heavy 
  and move slowly. 
  
   
   
  14 
   
  The doors are also enchanted, should they be 
  damaged they reassemble themselves—skeletal 
  hands emerging from the doors to pick up bones 
  knocked loose. 
  Above the archway of the stairs that led 
  downwards into the hidden tomb are written the 
  words “Let light show the way.” 
  Lighting the candelabra 
  Each of the rooms, has a black candle in it. Once 
  all the candles are lit in the candelabra, the ghost 
  of Sir Scrimhunt appears (see Sir Scrimhunt 
  appears).  
  GMs: If the adventurers do something unexpected 
  (say they eat the candles or destroy the candelabra, or 
  just don’t engage with the puzzle), head to the 
  Guardian section and then go to Sir Scrimhunt 
  Appears. 
  Room 1: Trophy Room 
  This room is full of battle-standards, flags, and 
  banners. Unfortunately, they are all so old that 
  they crumble easily at a touch. It looks like these 
  are trophies captured in war. 
  If the adventurers deliberately despoil any of 
  the banners a curse laid upon the room activates: 
  Visions of past battles +5 vs MD—target 
  uses their best attack against their nearest 
  ally 
  One banner won’t crumble to dust. Near that 
  banner is a black candle, placed neatly on the 
  floor. 
  Holdfast Battle Standard 
  Wondrous item 
  Always: You and any nearby ally who spends 
  a recovery heals +1d4 hit points (champion: 
  +2d4; epic: +3d4). 
  Quirk: Shout victory cries. 
  Room 2: Grave Goods 
  This room has a stone table set up as a kitchen. 
  On the table are carved stone fruits and meats, 
  empty stone bottles, and other grave goods 
  designed to last the ages. 
  On the table, seemingly thrown there, is a 
  black candle. The candle was still lit when it was 
  left there and there is a small pool of black wax 
  under the wick. 
  If the adventurers disturb the stone food a 
  curse laid upon the room activates: 
  Apologizing to ghosts: DC 20. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Hunger for stone +10 vs MD—3d6 
  damage as the adventurer attempts to eat 
  the stone food 
  Room 3: Ossuary 
  This room is an ossuary, a room full of and 
  decorated with bones. There is a table and six 
  seats here, all made of bones. On the table are 
  cups and plates made from carved bones. Unlit 
  skull-and-bone lanterns hang from chains in the 
  ceiling. 
  Just inside the room, on the floor, is a black 
  candle. 
  If the adventurers interfere with the bones in 
  the room a curse laid upon the room activates: 
  Dodge: DC 20. If an adventurer fails the 
  skill check make the following attack 
  against the adventurer: 
  Exploding bones +10 vs PD—2d8 
  damage 
  Room 4: Portrait Room 
  This room contains a huge portrait painted onto 
  the plaster of the back wall. As soon as the 
  adventurers open the door the portrait starts to 
  decay, though not so quickly that they do not 
  have time to thoroughly examine it. 
  On the floor near the portrait is a black candle. 
  If the adventurers mock the portrait or pick at 
  the flacking plaster a curse laid upon the room 
  activates: 
  Share my fate +10 vs PD—2d10 negative 
  energy damage as the target’s face starts 
  to flake off like old plaster 
  If an adventurer complements the subject of 
  the portrait or the artistry they do not face the 
  curse, and instead they gain a recovery and their 
  normal maximum recoveries increases by 1, until 
  the end of this session.  
  
   
   
  15 
   
  Room 5: Armor Display 
  This 
  room 
  contains 
  rusted 
  swords 
  and 
  antiquated suits of armor. The weapons and 
  armor are displayed on wooden frames, but these 
  are so decayed that touching anything causes the 
  whole display to collapse in a cloud of dust and 
  rust flakes. Though most of the armor and 
  weapons survive it will take more than a mend 
  spell to make them workable again. 
  If the adventurers denigrate the rusted 
  weapons and armor (for example saying 
  something like “this stuff is just junk”) a curse laid 
  upon the room activates: 
  Curse of rusting blood +5 vs PD—1d12 
  poison damage 
  Near the back of the room is an un-rusted 
  sword, and a black candle. 
  Sword of Victory Assured 
  Cursed sword 
  Always: +2 to attacks and damage with this 
  weapon (champion: +3; epic: +5). 
  Recharge 16+: Roll a d6 and if it is below the 
  escalation die value slay one nearby mook 
  (the mook is reduced to 0 hp). 
  Curse: The first time an ally spends a recovery 
  after you use the recharge power, the recovery 
  is spent but does nothing and the ally gains no 
  benefit from spending it. 
  Quirk: Smugness, especially when faced with 
  defeat. 
  
   
   
  16 
   
  The Guardian 
  GMs: If the adventurers gather all five candles, put 
  them in the candelabra, and light them—skip this 
  section and go straight to ‘Sir Scrimhunt appears’. 
  The adventurers hear a sound like rolling dice, 
  and spot a couple of knuckle bones that have 
  rolled out of one of the bone doors. As they watch 
  another bone falls out, then another, then the 
  doors fall into heaps of bones. 
  The adventurer’s horror the bones assemble 
  into an undead monster which attacks them. 
  Number of 
  PCs 
  The 
  Guardian 
  Bone Puppet 
  3 
  1 
  0 
  4 
  1 
  0 
  5 
  1 
  1 
  6 
  1 
  1 
   
  Bone Puppet 
  4th level troop [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +10 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Shortsword +10 vs. AC—14 damage 
  Natural 16+: The target moves down 1d3 points 
  in initiative order, to a minimum of 1. 
  Natural even miss: 5 damage. 
   
  R: Javelin +8 vs. AC—10 damage 
   
  Press advantage: The legionnaire deals +1d8 
  damage with its attacks against enemies that 
  have a lower initiative than it. 
   
  AC 
  21 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 48 
  MD 17 
  The Guardian 
  This thing of reanimated bones really wants to add to 
  its collection. 
  Double-strength 4th level caster [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +9 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Bone storm +9 vs. PD—14 damage 
  Natural even hit: 14 negative energy damage to 
  the enemy with the most hit points. 
  Natural odd hit: 14 ongoing thunder damage. 
   
  R: Bone shield +9 vs. PD—14 ongoing lightning 
  damage, and the target is weakened (save ends 
  both) 
   
  Frightening Thirteen: If the ghost rolls a natural 
  13, then for the rest of the battle the enemy with 
  the most hit points at the start of the round (GM 
  chooses on ties) must roll a save in order to take 
  a move action. Failure to save indicates the 
  character is too busy trying to stop their own 
  skeleton from crawling out of their mouth to 
  move.  
   
  Strength from pain: The ghost heals 4d6 hp every 
  time an enemy rolls a death save. 
   
  Fear: While engaged with this creature, enemies 
  that have 18 hp or fewer are dazed (–4 attack) 
  and do not add the escalation die to their 
  attacks. 
   
  AC 
  20 
  PD 
  16 
   
  HP 100 
  MD 16 
   
   
  
   
   
  17 
   
  Sir Scrimhunt Appears 
  GMs: Once the candelabra has been lit, or once the 
  guardian has been defeated, the ghost of Sir Scrimhunt 
  appears. 
  A ghost arises from the glass coffin, a glowing 
  apparition of Sir Scrimhunt holding a ghostly 
  sword. The ghost attacks the party. 
  Once the ghost is defeated it becomes 
  insubstantial (the fight ends when the ghost is 
  reduced to 0 hp, but the ghost doesn’t vanish), and the 
  sword in its hand becomes a phantasmal 
  candelabra with five lit candles on it. A luminous 
  passageway opens up in the air, and the ghost 
  walks 
  down 
  it, 
  silently 
  beckoning 
  the 
  adventurers to follow. 
  Number of 
  PCs 
  The Ghost of 
  Sir 
  Scrimhunt 
  The 
  Reanimated 
  Corpse of Sir 
  Scrimhunt 
  3 
  1 
  0 
  4 
  1 
  0 
  5 
  1 
  1 
  6 
  1 
  1 
   
  THE REANIMATED CORPSE OF SIR 
  SCRIMHUNT 
  The corpse has decided to join in the fight too. 
  4th level spoiler [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +7 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Sword +9 vs. AC—10 damage 
  Natural even hit or miss: Unless the reanimated 
  corpse is staggered, the attack also deals 8 
  ongoing negative energy damage. 
   
  Nastier Specials 
  Barrow-touch: The reanimated corpse’s attacks 
  against enemies taking ongoing negative 
  energy damage are against PD instead of AC 
  and their crit range expands by 2. 
   
  AC 
  21 
  PD 
  17 
   
  HP 48 
  MD 13 
  THE GHOST OF SIR SCRIMHUNT 
  Double-strength 4th level caster [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +9 
  Vulnerability: Holy 
   
  Flaming sword +9 vs. PD—20 fire damage 
   
  R: Burning gaze of doom +9 vs. PD—20 fire 
  damage 
  Natural even hit or miss: 5 ongoing fire damage. 
   
  C: Burning aura +9 vs. PD (1d3 nearby 
  enemies)—10 ongoing fire damage 
   
  Frightening Thirteen: If the ghost rolls a natural 
  13, then any books in the room (including spell 
  books carried by wizards) bleed. Perhaps there 
  are story consequences, especially if  PC has 
  reasons to care about the books.  
   
  Intangible: The ghost can’t make opportunity 
  attacks, and enemies can’t make opportunity 
  attacks against it. The ghost can pass through 
  solid objects, but is always drawn by fate back 
  into the fight unless it uses a standard action to 
  stay inside a wall until the start of its next turn. 
   
  Strength from pain: The ghost heals 4d6 hp every 
  time an enemy rolls a death save. 
   
  Fear: While engaged with this creature, enemies 
  that have 18 hp or fewer are dazed (–4 attack) 
  and do not add the escalation die to their 
  attacks. 
   
  AC 
  19 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 116 
  MD 17 
   
   
  Luminous Passage 
  The ghostly passage passes through soil and 
  rock, yet those who set foot in it are able to walk 
  through the ground as though it were not there.  
  At the far end of the passageway is what looks 
  like the great hall of a castle. 
   
   
  
   
   
  18 
   
  Session 3: The 
  Return of 
  Screamhaunt 
  Castle 
  Running this session 
  This session is designed for 2nd level characters. 
  At the end of the session, each character should 
  gain an incremental advance.  
  The 
  session, 
  as 
  written, 
  should 
  take 
  approximately two hours.  
  Screamhaunt Castle has no pre-determined 
  layout, so pay attention to the exploration section 
  which talks about how to generate the castle as 
  the adventurers explore it. 
  What has come before 
  The adventurers have been sent to investigate the 
  ghostly ‘Screamhaunt’ Castle, and through their 
  discovery of a lost tomb have found their way 
  inside the phantasmal structure. 
  Prior to coming to the castle the adventurers 
  met a seer who foretold their fortune, fortunes 
  that are about to come to pass. 
  New characters 
  New characters this session are unfortunate 
  travelers who have been scooped up by the castle 
  on its phantasmal journeys and have been lucky 
  enough to meet the party. 
  Icon rolls 
  At the start of the session remember to ask each 
  player 
  to 
  roll 
  their 
  adventurer’s 
  icon 
  relationships. Generally speaking a 6 can be 
  traded in for a clear benefit, a 5 when traded in 
  will benefit the adventurer or party but there will 
  be an associated complication, obligation, or 
  drawback. 
  Banners of the Great 
  Hall 
  The adventurers arrive in the great hall of 
  Screamhaunt Castle, the luminous passageway 
  and the ghost of Sir Scrimhunt fading away 
  behind them. The great hall is decorated with 
  banners, which are revealed, as the adventurer’s 
  eyes adjust to the lighting, to show their greatest 
  fears. 
  This is a montage scene. The point of this 
  montage is to describe the banners (and thus the 
  greatest fears of the characters).  
  Turn to the first player and ask them to 
  describe their character’s greatest fear, then turn 
  to the player to their right and ask them how that 
  greatest fear is luridly displayed on one of the 
  banners in the great hall. Go around the group 
  until everybody has had a chance to describe a 
  banner that show’s another character’s greatest 
  fear. This is a good opportunity for players to 
  reveal facts about their characters that others may 
  not know. 
  If there is a character in the group 
  that 
  is 
  genuinely 
  and 
  preternaturally 
  fearless 
  (say 
  through a magic item or one unique 
  thing) then their banner instead 
  shows their greatest regret or 
  perhaps their secret shame, biggest character flaw, 
  or hidden inner weakness. 
  The great hall has many doors and staircases 
  that lead from it, but none of them lead outside. 
  The banners, should they be taken down, turn 
  into millions of spiders and scuttle over the party. 
  The spiders are harmless, but will tickle the backs 
  of character’s knees as they run up into their 
  clothing. 
  Exploration 
  The adventurers are here to investigate the castle, 
  but they are currently trapped in it. The 
  adventurers will need to deal with the haunted 
  castle, and eventually find a way out. This session 
  the adventurers will explore several of the rooms, 
  after which they face one of the ghosts of the 
  castle, and after that they will have an 
  opportunity to rest in a bedroom in the castle. 
  
   
   
  19 
   
  You decide when the ghost of Magister Wurst 
  shows up, but it should be after a minimum of 
  one room explored per adventurer and should 
  occur near the end of the session. 
  The castle shifts around the adventurers, so 
  once they leave the great hall they won’t be able 
  to return to it. 
  Each of the rooms is linked to the arcana cards 
  that Madame Vex read for the party in the first 
  session of this adventure. If the characters didn’t 
  get a full card reading, pick rooms at random or 
  select ones that appeal to your personal taste, and 
  ignore the boxed text headed ‘Fortune Smiles’. 
  Some of these rooms can be very 
  unsettling for some players (and 
  some GMs). Check in with your 
  players if they look uncomfortable. 
  This is supposed to be spooky fun, 
  so tailor your GMing to your 
  group’s needs. Of course other groups might want 
  to go all-in with the horror, and if that is the case 
  you should all discuss beforehand what lines you 
  won’t cross and what sorts of things you will gloss 
  over. 
  You can probably get through all ten rooms in 
  this session in about an hour or so. The more 
  players you have the more time you should expect it 
  to take to move through each room.  
  As a GM you can control how apt the 
  adventurers are to explore any given area—if you 
  add in more atmospheric detail (vivid description of 
  shadows, detailing the exact color of things, adding 
  additional objects to areas, describing the strange 
  smells and sounds of each room) players will spend 
  more time in a room, but keep the description terse 
  and players are more likely to move along quickly. 
  The number of rooms that the adventures 
  explore before Magister Wurst shows up is down to 
  you—the more rooms explored the more time you 
  need to run this session and the greater the attrition 
  on the adventurers’ resources 
  Open graves 
  This area was part of the basement of 
  Screamhaunt Castle, and in its dirt floor a series 
  of open graves have been dug. In the gloom-light 
  it is hard to tell if these open graves are currently 
  occupied. A shovel stands nearby. It is only after 
  the graves have been spotted that the party 
  realizes that the uneven floor of the basement is 
  uneven because there are hundreds of already 
  full unmarked graves in the dirt. The party are 
  walking over the graves of the dead. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Asterism 
  Anybody who got the Asterism card in their fortune 
  telling notices that there are pipes running along 
  the ceiling, part of a furnace heating system. The 
  pipes are hot—jumping up to them and clinging on 
  means avoiding the hands of the dead entirely at a 
  cost of taking 1d8 fire damage. 
  As the party moves through the area hands 
  burst up from the dirt floor, attempting to drag 
  the adventurers down into an early grave: 
  Dodge the dead: DC 15. If an adventurer 
  fails the skill check make the following 
  attack against the adventurer: 
  Dragged into a shallow grave +15 vs 
  AC—3d6 damage  
  
   
   
  20 
   
  The lion crematoria 
  This room is part of a basement, an area so large 
  that its far walls disappear off into the misty 
  darkness. Along the nearest wall basement is a 
  huge chimney and a great iron furnace shaped 
  like a lion’s face. Half-alive sounds come from the 
  furnace whenever it is not being directly looked 
  at.  
  Anybody who touches the furnace takes 2d6 
  fire damage as the metal gets suddenly and 
  unexpectedly hot where they touched it. Dealing 
  damage to the furnace deals 1d12 psychic 
  damage to each adventurer present as wailing 
  ghosts fly out. Leaving the furnace alone is the 
  best policy.  
  The furnace was last used by the living to 
  dispose of the dead caused by the Diabolist’s 
  plague that ended the 12th Age. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Fountain 
  Those who got the Fountain card can push an ally 
  toward the furnace instead of themselves if they fail 
  the skill check. 
  The furnace suddenly springs to animated 
  life, and draws in a mighty breath as its fires stoke 
  up to a white heat. The party is pulled in toward 
  the furnace by the sudden wind: 
  Grab hold of something: DC 20. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Burned alive +15 vs PD—1d6 ongoing 
  fire damage, passing a DC 10 skill check 
  to climb out of the furnace ends the 
  damage  
  The rats 
  The basement is full of rats. The adventurers can 
  see them in corners eating fresh meat or gnawing 
  on what look like finger bones. Best not to 
  speculate on where their feast has come from. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Green Leaf 
  Anybody who got the Green Leaf card from 
  Madame Vex can opt to take no damage from the 
  rats, but at the cost of designating one ally to 
  automatically get hit by the rat’s attack if they fail 
  their skill roll. 
  The rats rush the party in a dark wave: 
  Avoid the rats: DC 15. If an adventurer 
  fails the skill check make the following 
  attack against the adventurer: 
  Verminous bite +15 vs AC—3d6 poison 
  damage  
  The pool of blood 
  In a castle corridor of the characters notices that 
  their feet feel warm, and wet. Looking down the 
  party discovers a pool of fresh blood seeping up 
  from the floorboards. There is no rational 
  explanation of where the blood is coming from. 
  The red-black blood sticks to the adventurers, 
  caking them with gore. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Red Chalice 
  Anybody who got the Red Chalice card gains 10 
  temporary hit points instead of being harmed by the 
  drowning in blood attack. 
  The adventurers feel the floor beneath the 
  blood begin to crumble, then drop away: 
  Leap to safety: DC 20. If an adventurer 
  fails the skill check make the following 
  attack against the adventurer: 
  Drowning in blood +10 vs PD—10 
  damage  
  
   
   
  21 
   
  The shadows in the library 
  This room is a library, though the books all 
  contain unsettling poetry that shifts when it is not 
  being looked at. All the poetry is about the 
  adventurers, and is full of lurid descriptions of 
  torture and death. Taking and reading one of 
  these books causes nightmares, waking terrors, 
  and disturbing hallucinations. 
  While in the library one or more people in the 
  room notice they have one more shadow than 
  there are light sources in the room. The extra 
  shadow flees once noticed. Turning out the lights 
  might not be a good idea. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Wandering King 
  Anybody who got the Wandering King card as part 
  of their fortune is inspired to spout their own 
  poetry, helping to block out the whispers (letting 
  them reroll the skill check and take the better roll). 
  The adventurers start to notice a whispering 
  sound coming from all around them, from the 
  books of dark poetry: 
  Block out the whispers: DC 25. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Secrets from beyond the grave +10 vs 
  MD—2d8 psychic damage  
  The kitchen 
  The kitchen was in use at the time of the fateful 
  party 
  during 
  which 
  Screamhaunt 
  Castle 
  disappeared on a stormy night years ago. The 
  bodies of the kitchen staff can be found stuffed 
  into the chimney, and guests who have been 
  turned into ghouls lurk in the shadows. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Tower 
  Adventurers who got this card in their visit with 
  Madame Vex realize that the ghouls are hungry and 
  no real threat, and can be easily outrun—doing so 
  raises the DCs of other characters by 5 for smiting 
  the ghouls, but means that the running characters 
  leaves their friends behind. Hey, it’s like they say: 
  “you don’t have to be faster than the ghoul, just 
  faster than your friends”. 
  The ghouls rush the adventurers, salivating: 
  Smite the pitiful ghouls: DC 20, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Pitiful bite +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  OK, so these ghouls are not as 
  strong as those the adventurers 
  faced back in the graveyard. They 
  are sneaky and quick, but are easy 
  to dispatch before they do any great 
  harm. They are not a full fight, 
  therefore, more a potentially deadly jump-scare. 
  The endless stair 
  The curving stairway leads both up and down, 
  but whichever way you go you will arrive back 
  where you started. If there is an easy way for the 
  adventurer to tell this (allies on the stair below 
  that they meet further up, marks that they leave 
  on the wall) then all is good, if a little weird. If the 
  character leaves marks and keeps going anyway, 
  new marks and bloody handprints appear as 
  though somebody elsewhere in the castle is 
  begging for help. If the character has no way of 
  telling that they are going in a circle they lose a 
  recovery from exhaustion. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Masked Lover 
  Anybody who pulled the Masked Lover card notices 
  marks on the walls left by past adventurers, and 
  does not risk losing a recovery. 
  The endless stair has an odd effect on the 
  weak minded: 
  Non-Euclidian madness +10 vs MD 
  (each adventurer on the stairs)—target 
  loses a recovery 
  
   
   
  22 
   
  The music box 
  Found in a room, the music box begins 
  spontaneously playing. The music gets louder 
  and stranger, so loud that it is painful. Breaking 
  the music box stops the music for all but one 
  adventurer who continues hearing it. The other 
  characters must shout to be heard by the unlucky 
  adventurer who is now bleeding from the ears (6 
  psychic damage). The music stops suddenly, and 
  the music box is back where it was found (and 
  intact if it was smashed). 
  Fortune Smiles: The Princess 
  Those who pulled the Princess card can just go with 
  the music, and take no damage from pulled muscles 
  resisting the spirits of this room. 
  As the adventurers go to leave the room the 
  doors slam shut, and music begins to play. 
  Invisible hands grab the adventurers, forcing 
  them to dance to the music. 
  Dodge invisible hands: DC 25 (or DC 15 
  for characters that can see invisible 
  ghosts). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Ballet of the damned +15 vs PD—1d12 
  damage  
  The greenhouse 
  The greenhouse would normally be on the 
  exterior of the castle. The folding of the castle has 
  left it with each of the panes of glass staring into 
  grisly scenes inside in the manor. Dead and dry 
  potted plants spill out of their painted pots, and 
  dry leaves rustle on the floor. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Jester 
  Anybody who got the Jester card during their 
  fortune telling realizes that dry (un)dead plants 
  will avoid fire. By pouring lamp oil over themselves 
  and setting themselves on fire (1d4 fire damage) 
  they can avoid being targeted by the vines and lower 
  everybody else’s DC by 5. 
  Dry woody vines shoot out of the shadows, 
  attempting to grab the adventurers and pull their 
  limbs off: 
  Dodge the vines: DC 15. If an adventurer 
  fails the skill check make the following 
  attack against the adventurer: 
  Vine attack +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  The ballroom 
  This room is lined with mirrors—once the doors 
  are closed they are hard to find again. The 
  polished wooden floor is thick with dust and 
  grime. As the characters look for the way out 
  ghostly music begins to play. (GMs, if you are 
  using music in your game “To the shock of Miss 
  Louise” by Thomas Newman is highly recommended 
  here). 
  Fortune Smiles: The Hanging Tree 
  Anybody who was dealt the Hanging Tree card gets 
  +5 AC against the ghouls due to noticing them 
  early, or can shout a warning to the whole party 
  giving everybody +1 AC. 
  In 
  the 
  mirrors 
  phantasmal 
  images 
  of 
  celebrations past show, figures in archaic 
  costume dance to the ghostly music. What 
  doesn’t show in the mirrors are the ghouls that 
  have crept into the room: 
  Smite the pitiful ghouls: DC 25, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Pitiful bite +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  
   
   
  23 
   
  The ghost of Magister 
  Wurst 
  GMs: Run this section after the adventurers have 
  explored several castle rooms. 
  When the castle disappeared it took with it its 
  then living owner, Magister Wurst. Though the 
  castle took his life, it did not allow his soul to 
  leave. 
  Rising like a mist from the castle floor, 
  Magister Wurst appears, cackling madly—he 
  wasn’t terribly sane in life, and now that he’s 
  dead he’s completely lost it. 
  Number of 
  PCs 
  Magister 
  Wurst 
  Screamhaunters 
  3 
  1 
  10 
  4 
  1 
  13 
  5 
  1 
  17 
  6 
  1 
  20 
  GMs: This is a double-strength fight. 
   
  SCREAMHAUNTERS 
  These past victims are a part of the castle now. 
  3rd level mook [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +4 
  Vulnerablity: holy 
   
  Terrifying shambling +8 vs. MD—6 psychic 
  damage 
   
  AC 
  19 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 10 (mook) 
  MD 20 
  Mook: Kill one screamhaunter mook for every 10 
  damage you deal to the mob. 
  THE GHOST OF MAGISTER WURST 
  The Magister’s ghost moves like a puppet with broken 
  strings. 
  Double-strength 4th level caster [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +9 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Whispered secrets +9 vs. MD—28 fire damage as 
  the target’s brain catches fire 
   
  C: Strangling intestines +9 vs. PD (1d3 nearby 
  enemies)—12 damage, and the target is 
  grabbed and pulled into engagement with the 
  ghost 
  Natural 16+: Each enemy not engaged with the 
  ghost is pulled next to the ghost, who 
  engages it. Enemies already engaged with 
  the ghost are subject to fear (save ends) no 
  matter their current hit points. 
   
  Frightening Thirteen: If the ghost rolls a natural 
  13, then the next enemy to attack the ghost has 
  the effects and damage of their attack deflected 
  to a random ally. 
   
  Intangible: The ghost can’t make opportunity 
  attacks, and enemies can’t make opportunity 
  attacks against it. The ghost can pass through 
  solid objects, but is always drawn by fate back 
  into the fight unless it uses a standard action to 
  stay inside a wall until the start of its next turn. 
   
  Strength from pain: The ghost heals 4d6 hp every 
  time an enemy rolls a death save. 
   
  Fear: While engaged with this creature, enemies 
  that have 18 hp or fewer are dazed (–4 attack) 
  and do not add the escalation die to their 
  attacks. 
   
  AC 
  20 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 100 
  MD 17 
   
   
  
   
   
  24 
   
  The Red Bedroom 
  Once defeated Magister Wurst dissipates into a 
  fine mist. 
  The next door the adventurers try brings them 
  to a bedroom with a huge four-poster bed, the 
  bedroom of the hedonist Magister Wurst whose 
  ghost they have just banished. This looks like as 
  good a place to rest as any. 
   
   
  
   
   
  25 
   
  Session 4: The 
  Unfolding of 
  Screamhaunt 
  Castle 
  Running this session 
  This session is designed for 2nd level characters. 
  At the end of the session, each character should 
  gain an incremental advance.  
  The 
  session, 
  as 
  written, 
  should 
  take 
  approximately two hours.  
  Screamhaunt Castle has no pre-determined 
  layout, so pay attention to the exploration section 
  which talks about how to generate the castle as 
  the adventurers explore it. 
  What has come before 
  The adventurers have been sent to investigate the 
  ghostly ‘Screamhaunt’ Castle, and through their 
  discovery of a lost tomb have found their way 
  inside the phantasmal structure. Having faced 
  multiple haunted rooms and the ghost of a 
  demented noble the adventurers were wounded 
  and exhausted, and had no choice but to sleep in 
  the first bedroom they found. 
  Prior to coming to the castle the adventurers 
  met a seer who foretold their fortune, fortunes 
  that are about to come to pass. 
  New characters 
  New characters this session are hapless travelers 
  who have been scooped up by the castle on its 
  phantasmal journeys and have been lucky 
  enough to meet the party. 
  Icon rolls 
  At the start of the session remember to ask each 
  player 
  to 
  roll 
  their 
  adventurer’s 
  icon 
  relationships. Generally speaking a 6 can be 
  traded in for a clear benefit, a 5 when traded in 
  will benefit the adventurer or party but there will 
  be an associated complication, obligation, or 
  drawback. 
  Dreams in the Red 
  Bedroom 
  The adventurers are spending the night in the 
  castle’s Red Bedroom, so named because of its 
  opulent draperies and huge four-poster bed 
  covered in crimson silk sheets. Every door that 
  they have tried so far has led deeper into the 
  castle and danger, and the Red Bedroom seems to 
  be the safest option to rest in. (RH: I think ASH is 
  having a laugh here, so try to say this to the party 
  with a straight face and no maniacal laughter.) 
  However, the castle is in a way alive (or 
  perhaps we would be better saying that the castle 
  never died), and it haunts their sleep. 
  This is a montage scene, as all the characters 
  experience a shared dream. Turn to the first 
  player and ask them to describe a horrible shared 
  nightmare that their character finds themselves 
  experiencing as they sleep, then turn to the player 
  to their right and ask them how their character 
  reacts in the nightmare and ask them to add a 
  new detail to the shared dream. Go around the 
  group until everybody has had a chance to add to 
  the group nightmare, and to have their character 
  be part of the dream. This is a good opportunity 
  for players to reveal facts about their characters 
  that others may not know. 
  OK, maybe there is somebody who 
  claims that they are not part of the 
  shared nightmare because their 
  character never sleeps. Unless it is 
  the One Unique Thing their 
  exhaustion and the castle’s malign 
  influence dulls their senses and lulls them into a 
  deep sleep—yes even the forgeborn and twygzog in 
  the party. Those who genuinely never sleep get to 
  watch their companions twitch and scream without 
  being able to rouse them. 
  Once the adventurers have experienced their 
  nightmare they all wake simultaneously with a 
  start. Their rest was not as refreshing as it would 
  normally have been. Players can choose the 
  following: 
   
  All expended resources (limited use powers, 
  etc) regained but they start with no expended 
  recoveries regained. 
  
   
   
  26 
   
   
  The adventurer regains up to half of their 
  normal recoveries, but their recharge powers 
  have a -2 penalty to their recharge rolls. 
   
  The adventurer regains all spent recoveries, 
  but recharge powers have a -4 penalty to 
  their recharge rolls and they do not regain 
  any of their expended daily powers or per-
  day use class abilities. 
  Exploration 
  The adventurers are trapped in the castle, and 
  need to find a way out of it (and also find a way 
  to deal with the many hauntings in the castle). 
  This session the adventurers will explore several 
  of the rooms, after which they face the ghosts of 
  the castle’s builder, and after that they will be 
  able to leave the castle. You decide when the 
  ghost shows up, but it should be after a minimum 
  of one room explored per adventurer and should 
  occur near the end of the session. 
  The castle shifts around the adventurers, so 
  once they leave the relative safety of the Red 
  Bedroom they won’t be able to return to it. 
  Each of the rooms is linked to the arcana cards 
  that Madame Vex read for the party in the first 
  session of this adventure. If the characters didn’t 
  get their cards read pick rooms at random or 
  select ones that appeal to your personal taste, and 
  ignore the boxed text headed ‘Fortune Smiles’. 
  The mirror 
  The adventurers find another bedroom, this one 
  with a full length dressing mirror. The reflection 
  of the adventurers in the mirror doesn’t follow 
  their motions, and either stares at them 
  unnervingly or the adventurers reflections are 
  beating their fists against the mirror as if trapped 
  inside. If the mirror is broken anybody reflected 
  in it at the time loses their reflection forever, in 
  this mirror and all others.  
  Fortune Smiles: The Mirror 
  Adventurers who got the mirror card in their 
  fortune telling from Madame Vex receive help from 
  their reflections, which emerge briefly to aid the 
  adventurers lowering the DC for that adventurer 
  by 10. 
  While the adventurers are engaged with 
  watching the mirror, ghouls creep into the room: 
  Smite the pitiful ghouls: DC 25, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Pitiful bite +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  The attic 
  The rambling attic seems to stretch on forever. In 
  fact it might stretch on forever. A lot of junk ended 
  up here, the personal belongings of the wizards 
  who died long ago in this castle. 
  The attic is a jumble of oddments and 
  oddities, which cast unnerving shadows. As the 
  adventurers move through the attic the shadows 
  move 
  and 
  stretch 
  unnervingly 
  as 
  the 
  adventurer’s light source moves. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Crowned Sun 
  Anybody who got the Crowned Sun card during 
  their fortune-telling from Madame Vex can use 
  lanterns and other light sources to drive their extra 
  shadow away, giving them a +5 bonus to their PD 
  and no miss damage. 
  The adventurers in this area each gain an extra 
  shadow, which the character with the highest 
  Wisdom will notice first: 
  Run from the shadows: DC 25 (or DC 15 
  for the character with the highest 
  Wisdom). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Hungry shadow-thing +15 vs PD—3d4 
  negative energy damage  
  Miss: Half damage. 
  The hall of dragons 
  This large hall is dominated by a long table with 
  many high-backed chairs, all covered in dust 
  sheets. On plinths along the outer edge of the hall 
  are huge dragon skulls—each stone plinth has an 
  inscription upon it, giving the history of the 
  dragon. At the end of the great hall is a marble 
  statue of a Dragon Emperor from a previous age. 
  As the adventurers explore this room a white 
  goat appears behind the party in such a way that 
  only the rearmost party member spots it. If the 
  rearmost party member looks away the goat will 
  disappear and haunt their dreams from then on 
  
   
   
  27 
   
  out as a bad omen. If the whole party sees it (the 
  rearmost party member spots it, doesn't look away, 
  and alerts others to its presence) then the goat 
  speaks a short sentence in a language unknown 
  to any party member then bursts into flames and 
  burns away to nothingness. 
  GMs: So what did the goat say? It might be 
  gibberish, but when I’ve pulled the whole goat-
  prophecy thing in my games I’ve had it be a dire 
  prophecy that the party only manages to translate after 
  it came to pass. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Eye of Night 
  Those who got the Eye of Night card are wary 
  enough of the room that they are not distracted by 
  the strange white goat, and gain +5 to their skill 
  check and +5 to PD against the dragon’s attacks. 
  A moment or two after the goat has gone, the 
  dragon skulls in the room animate and breathe 
  dark fire upon the party: 
  Dodge dragon breath: DC 20. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Undead breath +15 vs PD—2d8 negative 
  energy damage  
  The fresco hallway 
  The walls of the hallway are painted with 
  frescoes depicting the history of the Dragon 
  Empire. In the unsteady light it almost looks like 
  the frescos are moving.  
  Fortune Smiles: The Rose 
  Adventurers who were dealt the Rose card in their 
  readings remember Madame Vex’s words and 
  instinctively back away from the walls, gaining a 
  +5 bonus to AC against the frescos. 
  The frescos come to life, hurling their 
  weapons at the party: 
  Dodge the unreal: DC 15. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Illusionary attack +10 vs MD—3d6 
  psychic damage 
  The portrait and the empty chair 
  A party member spots a portrait that looks just 
  like them or somebody that they know, but 
  dressed in old-fashioned clothing. When they 
  next look at the picture a dark figure is standing 
  behind the image of them or their loved one, a 
  shadowy hand upon their shoulder. When next 
  looked at both figures are gone, and the picture is 
  now of an empty chair. From then on out every 
  inn the character visits will just happen to have a 
  chair that looks like the chair from the image. The 
  patrons and proprietor of the inn will always 
  claim that the chair has always been there. Being 
  too close to the chair will cause the character to 
  be very afraid. Sitting in the chair will cause a fit 
  or seizure during which they will have terrible 
  visions. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Vizier 
  Those who got the Vizier card instead gain positive 
  prophetic visions when they sit in the ‘haunted’ 
  chair that keeps turning up in inns. The visions are 
  not always useful because they are so vague and 
  allegorical, but there is a 10% chance that a vision 
  will contain useful information. 
  While the adventurers are engaged with 
  looking at the portrait, ghouls drop from the 
  ceiling: 
  Smite the pitiful ghouls: DC 25, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Pitiful bite +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  
   
   
  28 
   
  The bloody message 
  The party sees a message appear on a wall in 
  front of them. The message is written in blood, as 
  though scrawled by an invisible hand. The 
  message is in a very old wizarding language and 
  reads “Zumus omnex mortuzii”. Any magic user in 
  the group will be able to translate “We are all 
  dead” or perhaps “We are already dead.” If they do 
  translate they will discover that their own writing 
  hand is covered in blood, the palm having been 
  sliced open to the bone (6 damage). The 
  handwriting is theirs. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Hidden Star 
  Those who got the Hidden Star card will be able to 
  instinctively counteract the runes, allowing them 
  or one ally to reroll a failed skill check. 
  The writing on the wall continues, and the 
  party realizes too late that the writing is explosive 
  runes: 
  Stop, drop, and roll: DC 25. If an 
  adventurer fails the skill check make the 
  following attack against the adventurer: 
  Explosive runes +15 vs PD—3d6 fire 
  damage  
  Miss: Half damage. 
  The nursery 
  This room is a child’s nursery, though dusty and 
  full of cobwebs. Creepy looking porcelain dolls 
  sit on shelves around the room and cover an 
  undersized bed. Wooden alphabet blocks are 
  scattered across the floor around an open toy-
  box. Carved knights and horses are arranged in 
  ranks on the floor as though about to go into 
  battle. In one corner of the room stands a cradle, 
  rocked by an unseen hand. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Greater Gem 
  Whoever was dealt the Greater Gem card realizes 
  that one of the dolls has a priceless gem around its 
  neck. Retrieving the gem gains them a gem worth 
  2000 gp as a piece of jewelry, and the gem is a magic 
  item. 
  Gem of Priceless Wonder 
  Wondrous item 
  Recharge 11+: At the start of battle you may 
  use the gem’s magic to apply a +1 rune to a 
  mundane (non-magical) weapon, armor, or 
  implement and roll for the random rune 
  effect. At champion tier you can either 
  apply two +1 runes to two objects or one +2 
  rune to one object. At epic tier you can 
  apply either a +1 rune and a +2 rune to two 
  objects, or a +3 rune to one object. 
  Quirk: Covet pretty things. 
  However, true to Madame Vex’s reading of the card 
  whoever retrieves the gem suffers a strange curse: 
  the porcelain doll transforms into turns to a tiny 
  withered and mummified version of the character, 
  and the character turns into a full-sized living 
  porcelain doll. This affects only the character’s 
  appearance (no attribute or racial changes), and 
  will involve a major quest to undo the curse. 
  If two or more characters got the Greater Gem 
  card, then they all get the option to retrieve a 
  magical gem. In that case the character’s 
  transformations proceed gradually enough (at first) 
  that the first character doesn’t notice they are 
  cursed until all characters have gained their gems. 
  
   
   
  29 
   
  The open toy-box sucks the adventurers 
  toward it: 
  Avoiding being sucked into a tiny box: 
  DC 15. If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Crushed into a tiny space +5 vs AC—2d8 
  damage  
  Miss: Half damage. 
  After the adventurers escape the toy box the toys 
  in the room come to life, and laugh shrilly at the 
  adventurers, then just as suddenly stop and 
  resume normal inanimate object behavior. 
  The trophy room 
  The room is full of stuffed animals, with animal 
  heads mounted on the wall. Trophy rooms are 
  just spooky by themselves, and walking through 
  one on a stormy night in the middle of a castle of 
  the damned is doubly spooky. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Huntress 
  Any adventurer who got the Huntress card notices 
  that one of the lionesses in the room blinks, giving 
  them enough time to gain +5 to their AC by dodging 
  to the side. 
  One of the stuffed trophies, a lioness, comes to 
  life and attacks the party: 
  Fighting a reanimated lioness: DC 15, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Claw swipe +10 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  The corridor 
  The party is exploring a corridor when the area 
  begins to get darker and darker. Light sources 
  dim, and even magical light fades. As the party 
  moves onwards toward the darkness they can 
  hear something moving about… but they are 
  going to have to get within an arm-span of it to 
  find out what it is. If the party turns back and 
  beats a retreat the light returns to normal. If the 
  party presses onwards they find a … creature. It 
  is a wet red humanoid curled into a ball. It is 
  missing its eyes and tongue and skin, and is 
  making throat-sounds. If the party pulls the thing 
  out of the darkness they discover that it is a dying 
  dwarf, in great pain and unsaveable. If the party 
  doesn't pull the thing out of the dark a pale hand 
  appears and drags it away further into the 
  darkness. Following the hand into the darkness 
  will lead to a blank wall. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Winged Heart 
  Any character who drew the Winged Heart card 
  remembers Madame Vex’s admonition to properly 
  apply their strength and notices that the shrinking 
  corridor is not a magical effect but a mechanical one 
  driven by hidden cogwork—giving them a +5 bonus 
  to their skill check. 
  After the party has dealt with the strange 
  happenings in the corridor the walls begin to 
  close in on them as the corridor shrinks: 
  Brace, break the walls, or run: DC 20. If 
  an adventurer fails the skill check make 
  the 
  following 
  attack 
  against 
  the 
  adventurer: 
  Crushed +5 vs AC—1d12+4 damage  
  The long hallway 
  The long hallway is lined with suits of armor. The 
  armor is patterned after the armor used by the 
  Crusader’s army but is ceremonial—it probably 
  won’t stand up to a solid blow. The suits are 
  rusted in place from centuries of disuse and 
  neglect. When the adventurers pass between 
  them the helms turn to watch them, though the 
  suits only move when they are not being directly 
  observed. Each suit of armor grasps a weapon. 
  While the swords are blunt and their metal 
  fatigued, the maces and hammers are still 
  
   
   
  30 
   
  operable. One of the maces has the personal mark 
  of the Crusader. 
  Whoever is taking the lead down the long 
  hallway stumbles into a spider web. After a 
  moment of flailing and brushing eyeball-sized 
  spiders off themselves everything will be OK. 
  Later the lead adventurer will notice that the 
  adventurer with the longest hair is scratching 
  their scalp. Then the long hair will begin moving. 
  Spiders laid eggs there and the eggs are hatching! 
  The spiders might bite the head and hands of the 
  infested character, but while painful and 
  temporarily disfiguring the bites are in no way 
  deadly. 
  Fortune Smiles: The Key 
  Whoever was dealt the Key card realizes that one of 
  the war hammers is magical, but the suit of armor 
  won’t release it until another magical weapon is 
  placed into its empty hand. 
  Rhetorical Hammer 
  Cursed hammer 
  Always: +2 to attacks and damage with this 
  weapon (champion: +3; epic: +5). This 
  weapon ignores any damage resistances of 
  its target, and on a natural even hit ignores 
  any damage-avoidance abilities. 
  Curse: 
  The 
  attuned 
  adventurer 
  feels 
  compelled to speak honestly at all times, 
  and must succeed at a hard save (16+) to tell 
  a direct lie or a normal save (11+) to hide the 
  truth through clever wordplay. 
  Quirk: Lies hurt your ears. 
  Lurking in the shadows behind the suits of 
  armor are hungry ghouls: 
  Smite the pitiful ghouls: DC 25, or 
  expend a limited use power (daily or 
  recharge). If an adventurer fails the skill 
  check make the following attack against 
  the adventurer: 
  Pitiful bite +5 vs AC—2d6 damage  
  Gravenstein appears 
  GMs: Run this section after the adventurers have 
  explored several castle rooms. The number of rooms 
  that the adventures explore before Gravenstein shows 
  up is down to you—the more rooms explored the more 
  time you need to run this session and the greater the 
  attrition on the adventurers’ resources. 
  The adventurers stumble at last into a banquet 
  hall with skeletons sat at a long table. The table is 
  set for a meal, but the meal being served is 
  worms, maggots, and other unwholesome things 
  that are fund in graves. At the head of the table is 
  a rotting corpse, who stands to address the 
  adventurers. 
  “Ah, my honored guests. I felt you crawling 
  around inside me. My name is Gravenstein, and I built 
  this castle long ago at the command of Sir Scrimhunt. 
  Little did he know that I put more than my sweat and 
  toil into this castle—I put my very heart into it. Every 
  death in this place has fed me life, and I have returned 
  to the town the bears my name to feast. Come, join us!” 
  The skeletons rise from their seats and slowly 
  move toward the adventurers. 
  
   
   
  31 
   
   
  Number of 
  PCs 
  Gravenstein’s 
  Ghost 
  Decrepit 
  Skeletons 
  3 
  1 
  14 
  4 
  1 
  28 
  5 
  1 
  42 
  6 
  1 
  56 
  GMs: This is a double-strength fight. 
  There are a lot of skeletons in this double-
  strength final battle. Have Gravenstein stay at the 
  back and keep out of the fight as much as 
  possible, not taking any actions until the 
  adventurers whittle his mooks down to a 
  reasonable number. 
  Once the battle is over Gravenstein’s unlife is 
  ended, and the adventurers will see a still-beating 
  heart drop from his dissipating corpse. 
   
  DECREPIT SKELETON 
  1st level mook [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +6 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Sword +6 vs. AC—3 damage 
   
  AC 
  16 
  PD 
  14 
   
  HP 7 (mook) 
  MD 10 
  Mook: Kill one decrepit skeleton mook for every 7 
  damage you deal to the mob. 
   
  GRAVENSTEIN’S GHOST 
  Double-strength 4th level caster [UNDEAD] 
  Initiative: +9 
  Vulnerability: holy 
   
  Flesh-melting touch +9 vs. PD—4d8 acid 
  damage. For each of the damage dice that come 
  up 1, the ghost makes a dread gaze attack as a 
  free action against a different far away or 
  unengaged enemy. 
   
  R: Dread gaze +9 vs. MD—As a free action, the 
  target makes a basic attack against its closest 
  ally. If it isn't next to an ally and doesn't have a 
  ranged weapon in hand, instead it attacks itself.  
   
  Frightening Thirteen: If the ghost rolls a natural 
  13 then the enemy with the highest initiative 
  begins to turn inside out. The player of that 
  character can chose to take 13 ongoing damage 
  (and suffer amazing pain) OR move to last in 
  the initiative round due to stopping their 
  insides becoming their outsides. 
   
  Intangible: The ghost can’t make opportunity 
  attacks, and enemies can’t make opportunity 
  attacks against it. The ghost can pass through 
  solid objects, but is always drawn by fate back 
  into the fight unless it uses a standard action to 
  stay inside a wall until the start of its next turn. 
   
  Strength from pain: The ghost heals 4d6 hp every 
  time an enemy rolls a death save. 
   
  Fear: While engaged with this creature, enemies 
  that have 18 hp or fewer are dazed (–4 attack) 
  and do not add the escalation die to their 
  attacks. 
   
  AC 
  20 
  PD 
  15 
   
  HP 108 
  MD 17 
   
  
   
   
  32 
   
  The curse is lifted (or 
  is it?) 
  Fleeing the last battle (lose) 
  Oops! The adventurers ran instead of fighting. 
  They find a way out of the castle, only to discover 
  that it has fully solidified upon the hill outside 
  the town of Gravenstein. 
  Worse, the townsfolk of Gravenstein have 
  suffered an awful fate! Their skeletons have 
  crawled out of their bodies (killing them in the 
  process, obviously) and are now dragging their 
  flesh into the castle for Gravenstein’s Ghost to 
  feast upon. 
  The adventurers have investigated the castle, 
  but have failed to protect others and now must 
  call for help in defeating this newly-formed 
  bastion of undeath. 
  Keep the heart (draw) 
  If the adventurers take the heart and keep it safe 
  with them then they are able to navigate out of 
  the ever-shifting maze of the castle back to the 
  real world.  
  Once in the real world the adventurers look 
  back to see the castle has solidified upon the hill. 
  Screamhaunt Castle is still haunted, but at least 
  the immediate threat of Gravenstein is ended. 
  Destroy the heart (win) 
  Destroying the heart, causes the castle to fully 
  solidify and come into the real world, then 
  centuries of neglect catch up with it all at once 
  and the castle begins to crumble into ruin. The 
  adventurers run out just in time. 
  Once the dust clears the adventurers look 
  back to see the ruins of the castle on the hill above 
  the town of Gravenstein. The undying castle is 
  dead at last. 
  The road goes ever on… 
  So the adventure is over, but what next? 
   Well for my own group the 
  adventure will continue—one of 
  my players had his character turned 
  into a living doll by the curse in the 
  nursery, and now they seek to undo 
  the 
  curse. 
  That 
  will 
  involve 
  bargains with shadow dragons, descending into the 
  underworld to speak to a dead god, and finally a trip 
  into the Echo to seek out a valley of living shadows. 
  Along the way I expect to hear much in-character 
  complaining from him about his stubby little doll 
  fingers, and will enjoy watching the rest of the 
  party have to deal with adventuring with a 6’ tall 
  creepy doll. 
  Gravebstein the Death Lord 
  If the adventurers ran away and didn’t kill 
  Gravenstein then the town that bears his name 
  has become a city of the dead. Depending on 
  where you decided Gravebstein town is, this will 
  threaten one or more icons. The new city of the 
  dead might extend the Lich King’s power even 
  further from the isle of the Necropolis, or might 
  be a rival to his power. 
  As experts on Screamhaunt Castle the 
  adventurers will be much in demand by those 
  who want to oppose the undead. 
  Madame Vex 
  Regardless of what happens to the castle, 
  Madame Vex the seer is likely to survive (seeing 
  glimpses of the future tends to give one an 
  advantage in that respect). The tiefling seer could 
  end up as a recurring NPC, either a patron for the 
  adventurers who dispatches them to solve 
  problems that only she can foresee, or a morally 
  grey 
  Machiavellian 
  player-of-games 
  and 
  meddler with fate. 
  Screamhaunt Lives! 
  Just because the castle is destroyed doesn’t mean 
  all the undead are gone, nor that the ruins won’t 
  attract monsters. Remember also—the castle has 
  returned before, and may yet hold further secrets 
  to be discovered. 
   
   
  
   
   
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  44 
   
  OPEN GAME LICENSE 
  OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a 
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  15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, 
  Inc; Authors: Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on 
  material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 
  13th Age. Copyright 2013, Fire Opal Media, Inc.; Authors: Rob 
  Heinsoo, Jonathan Tweet, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, 
  Monte Cook, and Skip Williams. 
  13th Age Bestiary. Copyright 2014, Fire Opal Media, Inc. and Pelgrane 
  Press Ltd; Authors: Ryven Cedrylle, Rob Heinsoo, Kenneth Hite, 
  Kevin Kulp, ASH LAW, Cal Moore, Steve Townshend, Rob Watkins, 
  Rob Wieland. 
  13 True Ways. Copyright 2014, Fire Opal Media, Inc.; Authors: Rob 
  Heinsoo, Jonathan Tweet, Robin D. Laws, based on material by 
  Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams. 
  The Folding of Screamhaunt Castle. Copyright 2013, Fire Opal 
  Media, Inc.; Author: ASH LAW. 
  Return to Screamhaunt Castle. Copyright 2016, Fire Opal Media, 
  Inc.; Author: ASH LAW. 
  Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, 
  LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, 
  Monte Cook, and Skip Williams. 
  Castles & Crusades, Copyright 2004, Troll Lord Games; Authors: 
  Davis Chenault, Mac Golden. 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/13th Age/EXTRAS/Magazines/13th Age Monthly - Vol 2/Bonus - Return to Screamhaunt Castle.pdf