Back in 2007, I wrote D&D: Calibrating Your Expectations, an article which analyzed D&D 3^rd Edition’s mechanics with a particular eye towards what characters of various levels were truly capable of.

(The short version: If you think Conan or Aragorn are 20^th level D&D characters, then you’ll be disappointed and frustrated because 20^th level D&D characters can routinely perform superheroic feats far beyond what Conan or Aragorn should be capable of. To avoid that dissonance, you need to either embrace awesomeness of high level play, cap your campaign at a lower level, or find an alternative solution for dialing in your personal sweet spot.)

A few years later, I wrote a similar article called Numenera: Calibrating Your Expectations, which did a similar breakdown for Monte Cook’s Numenera (and, by extension, the Cypher System).

These articles were fairly popular, and it’s perhaps unsurprising that I’m frequently asked to update my original article for D&D 5^th Edition.

The reason that article has never been written is that, when you sit down and try to calibrate D&D 5^th Edition, you’ll quickly realize that there’s nothing to calibrate: The D&D 5^th Edition skill system, in particular, is a very shallow and hollow mechanic that is, at best, running on vibes.

The first thing I would do when attempting to calibrate a system looking at how a character’s action check results correlate to the real world. But the DCs in D&D 5^th Edition aren’t pegged to anything in the real world: Walking across a balance beam could be DC 0, DC 5, DC 20, or DC 30. And the same could be true of running across the treetops while balancing on the leaves.

The next thing I’d do is compare the performance of skilled and unskilled characters. Particularly interesting values here include what characters consider routine (i.e., tasks they can automatically succeed at no matter what they roll on the dice) and also what tasks a skilled character can potentially achieve that an unskilled character cannot.

In D&D 5^th Edition, however, skill proficiency bonuses are so tiny compared to both the range of the d20 roll and ability score bonuses that there’s no meaningful information to be gleaned. It’s quite likely, for example, that an unskilled character will actually have a higher bonus on a skill check than a character proficient in that skill, particularly at low levels.

This is, of course, intentional. For reasons I’ve previously discussed, D&D 5^th Edition embraced the concept of “bounded accuracy.” The best way to think of bounded accuracy in this context is that everybody is basically equally skilled at pretty much everything, and stuff like natural ability and proficiency only indicate slight differences between characters. (It’s the difference between two people who went to the same university, got the same degree, and both graduated in the top 25% of the class, rather than the difference between a PhD in a subject and the average layperson.)

Bounded accuracy also pretty severely curtails the useful insights that can be gleaned from comparing characters of different levels. The differences between 1^st and 10^th and 20^th level characters can be quite minute.

Oddly, though, D&D 5^th Edition features a handful of class abilities which hilariously break bounded accuracy in ways which are almost absurd compared to the otherwise tiny differences in the system. I refer to these as Fuck Bounded Accuracy abilities, and these FBAs simply obliterate whatever marginal insight calibration might otherwise reveal.

So all you can really do is arbitrarily peg X to a DC, where X is some given task. But if you try to relate that back to a calibration question like, “What is a skilled vs. unskilled character capable of?” you’ll just end up frustrated because the system, again, doesn’t really distinguish one from the other.

CALIBRATING 5th EDITION

If you kind of flip this around, however, the formlessness of D&D 5^th Edition offers you the opportunity to calibrate the system for yourself. In fact, it essentially demands this. Most DMs, however, only tackle this task blindly – groping in the dark and sort of arbitrarily throwing out DCs that “feel” right.

If you’d like to grasp this bull by the horns and instead make some conscious, deliberate choices about what you want the game to be, here’s what I would recommend.

First, define the maximum possible result you can imagine a 1^st level PC ever achieving. Peg this as a DC 26 task. (Roughly speaking, this is a natural 20 (die roll) + 4 (ability score) + 2 proficiency bonus.)

Second, think about the minimum difficulty you would ever even remotely consider making a check for (and most of the time you probably wouldn’t). Peg that to DC 5.

Third, provide a spectrum of results between your DC 5 and DC 26 tasks. Keep in mind that at DC 17+ it’s technically possible to have a 1^st level character who can NEVER accomplish those tasks. (If there were non-proficient and had a -4 ability score penalty.) DC 21, which is a task an average person could never achieve, is another useful benchmark to keep in mind.

Fourth, ask yourself what the most amazing thing you could ever imagine any PC doing at the highest levels of your campaign. Peg that at DC 36, then add spectrum values at DC 28 and DC 32 to bridge the gap.

Note that the tasks you assign to these DCs are entirely arbitrary, and will have a huge impact on the feel of your campaign.

For example, consider the ability to run across the top of the forest canopy like a character of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This could just as easily be:

• Impossible
• DC 36 (most amazing thing you’ll ever see)
• DC 26 (a 1^st level character can technically do it!)
• DC 18 (actually, it’s something everyone in Naruto can do)

Of course, if canopy running is DC 18 in your campaign, then you’ll need to figure out a DC 36 which is even more awesome than that. (Maybe being able to walk on clouds?)

Once you’ve calibrated your DCs, you need to accept that the FBAs will routinely allow PCs to punch way above the “intended” thresholds you’ve set. Consider this a feature, not a bug. Magic is awesome and the function of an FBA is to say, “Holy shit! Look at that guy!”

Finally, whatever you’ve set as your DC 36 touchstone is the cap. There’s nothing beyond that. If a player can string together some crazy string of bonuses and a natural 20 to roll a 52, that’s great. But the result will be no different than if they’d rolled a 36. They’ve reached maximum human potential, or however else you want to think of this. (This is necessary because the system’s issues – skill bonuses barely mattering; FBA abilities; etc. – make it impossible to calculate a coherent mathematical cap.)

Back to Surveyor’s Headquarters

AREA 7 – ANTECHAMBER OF ARTIFACTS

A vault of white marble.

AREA 8 – BOOK OF INFINITE SPELLS

Scribal stalls line the long walls of this chamber to the right and left. At the far end of the room, there is a stand of bloodwood holding the Book of Arkath.

BOOK OF ARKATH: Each page of the Book of Arkath contains a random spell. Once a page is turned, it can never be flipped back – paging through the Book of Arkath is a one-way trip and, as far as anyone has been able to determine, once a spell has appeared, it does not reoccur. If the book is closed, it always opens to the page it was on before the book was closed.

Once per long rest, a reader attuned to the Book of Arkath can cast the spell to which the book is opened. If the reader is a spellcaster and the spell appears on their spell list, they can cast it up to four times per day. Each time a spell is cast, there is a 1 in 6 chance that the page of the book will automatically turn.

In addition, each time a page is turned (whether willingly or not), there is a 1 in 20 chance that the book vanishes.

The book currently displays protection from energy.

SCRIBAL STALLS: A number of freshly copied scrolls can be found among the scribal stalls.

• scroll of creation
• scroll of teleport
• scroll of control winds
• scroll of kin curse*
• scroll of call of the topaz*
• scroll of harroc adulese (hunter serpent)*

* Exotic spells, see The Spells of Arkath.

GM Background: Under Guildmaster Essetia’s guidance, arcane members of the Brotherhood copy the spell currently displayed in the Book of Arkath. The page of the book is then turned.

AREA 9 – NECROMANCER’S STONE

Upon a platform of substarrae within a bulging cylinder of transparent arenak, sits the Necromancer’s Stone.

CYLINDER: A small plaque written in Old Prustan read, “The Necromancer’s Stone, wielded by the Squirming Horde, cleaved by the vanguard of Nulara Aretari during the Ghulwar.”

• Substarrae: A purplish black metal. The secrets of its creation were lost long aeons ago, but it’s stronger than even adamantine.
• Transparent Arenak: A silvery-black metal with a hundred times the strength and durability of normal steel. It has been alchemically treated to become transparent, but retains all the properties of adamantine.

NECROMANCER’S STONE: The Necromancer’s Stone is one of the primal stones – like the alchemist’s Philosopher’s Stone, Sorcerer’s Stone, God’s Stone, Druid’s Stone, and so forth.

In game terms, the Stone has XX charges and regenerates 2d10+4 charges daily at dawn. While holding it, the wielder can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using their spell save DC + 10: animate dead, blight, command undead*, create undead, death knell*, gentle repose, halt undead*, and soul bind* (trapping the soul within the Necromancer’s Stone). For spells that can be cast with higher spell slots, the wielder chooses which “slot” to use and spends a number of charges each equal to the “slot” level.

The wielder can also cast raise dead (5 charges) – whether the normal time limit has expired or the soul resists.

The Stone can also be used to create an undead hallow (4 charges) for 24 hours. An area 60 feet around the wielder is imbued with necromantic energy, although the spell fails if the radius includes an area already under the effects of a hallow spell. Undead creatures within the area are immune to turning and non-undead creatures (other than the wielder) cannot enter the area unless they succeed at a saving throw. For each additional charge expended, the wielder can also imbue the undead hallow with one effect:

• Courage. Undead cannot be frightened while in the area.
• Darkness. Darkness fills the area. Normal light, as well as magical light created by spells of a lower than 5^th level, can’t illuminate the area.
• Energy Protection. Undead creatures have resistance to one damage type of the wielder’s choice, except for bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing.
• Fear. Non-undead creatures (other than the wielder) are frightened while in the area.
• Silence. No sound can emanate from within the area, and no sound can reach into it.

The wielder of the Stone is permanently under the effects of death ward and gains advantage on skill checks and saving throws related to necromantic spells or effects.

This particular Necromancer’s Stone was created during the Ghulwar and was wielded by the legions of Ghul before being captured by Nulara Aretari’s army in the Field of Moonsilver. It’s tainted and bestows two levels of exhaustion to any non-chaotic or non-evil character carrying it.

COMMAND UNDEAD
Level 3 Necromancy (Sorcerer, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V

You speak a one-word command to all undead creatures you can see within range. Any target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or follow the command on its next turn. The spell has no effect if the target is living, if it doesn’t understand your language, or if your command is directly harmful to it.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. The range of the spell can be increased by an additional 10 feet for each additional spell slot level.

DEATH KNELL
Necromancy Cantrip (Cleric)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

You draw forth the ebbing life force of a creature and use it to fuel your own power. Upon casting this spell, you touch a living creature who is currently making death saving throws. If the subject fails a Constitution saving throw, it dies and you gain 2d4+4 temporary hit points.

HALT UNDEAD
Level 3 Necromancy (Sorcerer, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Choose up to three undead creatures you can see within range. Each creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed for the duration of the spell. The effect on a creature is broken if it is attacked or takes damage.

Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. You can affect an additional two undead for each additional spell slot level.

SOUL BIND
Level 9 Necromancy (Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a black sapphire gem)
Duration: Permanent

You draw the soul from a newly dead body and imprison it in a black sapphire gem worth at least 1,000 gp per level or CR of the creature whose soul is to be bound. The subject must have been dead no more than 1 minute and can attempt a Wisdom saving throw to avoid imprisonment.

The soul, once trapped in the gem, cannot be returned through raise dead, resurrection, or any similar spell or effect, not even a wish or miracle. Only by destroying the gem can one free the soul (which is then still dead).

Necromancer’s Stone is covered by the Open Game License.

AREA 10 – THE STATUE OF VLADAAM

A massive statue standing at one of this chamber depicts a hulking creature of black demon-flesh. Its skull seems to push out from the skin of its face, depicting a bone-white countenance with two flaming coals for eyes.

STATUE: The base of the statue is labeled in Old Prustan – VLADAAM, VESTED OF THE GALCHUTT.

• DC 24 Intelligence (Investigation): By pushing the V’s in both “VLADAAM” and “VESTED” simultaneously, a panel opens in the base of the statue. It contains The Ritual of Flessh (see handouts).

SEARCH – DC 18 Wisdom (Perception): To detect the secret door leading to Area 11.

GM Background: This statue depicts Vladaam, a Vested of the Galchutt and the founder of House Vladaam.

AREA 11 – DARKENING ENTRANCE

This area is affected by a darkness spell.

COMMAND PHRASE: Those speaking the command phrase (“let us hold and send forth the eye of all knowledge”), which can be found in the Oath of the Brotherhood, can perceive the room as if the darkness spell were not present.

CURSE: Anyone dispelling the darkness spell or passing through the room without speaking the command phrase must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become cursed: Their shadow becomes animate. Although it remains attached to the victim, it dances wildly, causing the victim to suffer disadvantage on Hide checks unless they’re in an area of total darkness. The effect is permanent, although a remove curse spell ends the effect.

AREA 12 – CRYPTS OF THE BROTHERHOOD

Each of these crypts contain a former, high-placed member of the Brotherhood. This includes all of the guildmasters of the Red Company of Surveyors since the 7^th century.

AREA 13 – FONT OF ASCENSION

This is a natural cavern. Carved stairs at the rear of the cave lead down to Area 12. The far side of the cavern opens out onto a cliff face on the edge of Oldtown, providing a breathtaking vista across Ptolus and down to the sea.

ILLUSION: The cave entrance is masked by an illusion from the outside.

FOUNTAIN: A burst of water from the wall softly falls in a burbling cascade through a complicated, multi-tiered fountain of gilded, glinting gold. Each tier of the fountain contains a small, golden sculpture depicting an animal with a rune or sigil on its chest: An eagle, a stag, a bear, a cat, an owl, a wolf, a dolphin, and a hawk.

• DC 15 Intelligence (Religion): These holy animals were associated with the Elder Gods before those strange deities vanished from the world.
• DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana): To recognize the runes as being an ancient antecedent of modern dreamspeaking notation. (Advantage on this check if the character is proficient in the Dreaming Arts.)
• DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation): There’s a hidden compartment at the base of the fountain. It contains The Passing of the Jewels of Parnaith (see handouts).

GOLDEN ANIMALS: The golden statuettes can be removed. Once removed, touching the sigils will cause them to glow. If all of the sigils are activated, each statuette will transform into a cunningly wrought piece of gold. These can be joined together to form an illitor (Ptolus, p. 485).

An illitor is a complex item encompassing a golden belt, armband, and bracelet, each connected to the others by thin golden chains.

GM Background: Only someone wearing an illitor can access the pergolas which lead to the Jewels of Parnaith.

Go to Part 14D: Inner Sanctum Handouts

DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 46B: Into the Asylum

Elestra reached out to the memories of Zairic’s corpse through the Spirit of the City. In a horrible, gurgling voice Zairic’s head spoke from it lay atop his corpse, attached by only a slim flap of flesh.

I love speak with dead almost as much as my players do. It’s an essential part of their toolkit whether they’re scouting a dungeon, unraveling a mystery, or probing the depths of a conspiracy. The In the Shadow of the Spire group actually keeps a “dead-icated bag” — a bag of holding for the important corpses they want to hold onto and question again after the one week waiting period has expired.

This means that I need to be prepared for all of their speak with dead antics, which is something I talk about in more detail in Random GM Tip: Speak With Dead Mysteries. (I also talk about how I keep track of the bodies in the dead-icated bag in Campaign Status Module: Trackers.)

But the fun part is figuring out all of the gruesome ways these mangled and half-rotten corpses speak under the influence of the spell.

Zairic, as seen here, is a fairly mundane example (although miming his head hanging on by a flap of skin had a pretty great effect on my players when combined with the gurgling voice), but I try to bring a little bit of flair to these, as seen with Silion back in Session 40:

“We can still ask her a few questions,” Elestra asked. “I can force her body’s memories to speak through the Spirit of the City. But we’ll only be allowed three questions, so we should choose them carefully.”

Tee nodded. “Let’s make sure we get it right.”

They debated the list of questions for the better part of half an hour and then Elestra wove her magic. Silion’s decapitated head rose into the air, its blood dripping in a sickly, coagulate gore down onto its own corpse below.

If speak with dead is a common part of your campaign, you could certainly prep a list of these to use as needed. Personally, I enjoy improvising them — taking into account the dead NPC, the circumstances of their death, their wounds, and even the surrounding scenery wherever the PCs are casting the spell.

A few things to think about in improvising your own speak with dead moments:

• How does their wound affect their voice?
• What unnatural position could the body be contorted into?
• How could the strangeness of the spell impact the surroundings (e.g., spattering blood, rattling bones, the corpse’s severed arm trying to crawl back to the torso from across the room)?
• Is there an overtly supernatural effect (e.g., the body floats into the air or an eery glow emanates from the corpse’s mouth)?

The goal is for the players to viscerally appreciate that what they’re doing is anything but natural or ordinary. (Is it evil? Morally grey? That depends on your morality. But, regardless, it shouldn’t be easy for them to feel comfortable about what they’re doing. It should feel like weird shit, and they probably wouldn’t want their mothers walking into the room while they’re doing it.)

There’s no need to overdo it, though. Just one or two key details are enough to bring the scene to vivid life. Less is more, and if you’ve got a really cool idea… well, there’s always the next corpse.

Campaign Journal: Session 47A – Running the Campaign: TBD
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 46B: INTO THE ASYLUM

December 22nd, 2009
The 25th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Elestra reached out to the memories of Zairic’s corpse through the Spirit of the City. In a horrible, gurgling voice Zairic’s head spoke from his own back.

“Where is Mahdoth?”

“In his chamber by the western cells.”

“Where are all the exits from the asylum?”

“Through the doors onto Childeyes Street. Down through the caverns. And through the walls.”

“Who is bringing the shipment?”

“The Children of Mrathrach.”

They looked at each other. “Math rack?” Elestra asked.

The question of who the Children of Mrathrach were ate away at them, but they needed to keep moving. Speaking with the corpse had taken ten minutes, and although that had afforded them the time to search the room and strip Zairic’s body (and, afterwards, stuff it into a bag of holding), they were now in enemy territory and the clock was ticking.

They proceeded cautiously through the rooms of the upper level to the staircase and then headed down. Convinced that dangers could lurk behind any door, Ranthir filled the air with arcane enhancements… only to find nothing but a storage closet behind the first door they tried.

When Ranthir tried casting another spell at the bottom of the stairs, he discovered that some active force was dampening his connection to the forces of magick. The spell was completely disrupted and lost. Experimenting, they discovered that effects that were conjured upstairs and then brought down into the field were fine, but any actual spellcasting on the lower levels seemed virtually impossible.

Faced with the decision of retracing the path they had taken with Danneth on their previous visit (which led east) and heading into unexplored territory through a southern door, their decision was informed by Zairic’s words: Mahdoth’s chambers lay near the western cells. They weren’t sure where those might be exactly, but they certainly weren’t to be found by going to the east.

So they headed south down a short hallway and into a comfortable, well-organized office with a pair of desks facing each other in the middle of the room and various filing shelves and the like arranged around the walls.

Tee quickly grabbed a stack of paper off one of the desks and quickly scanned it before handing it off to Elestra for further study.

SITUATIONAL REPORT ON DEREGALIS FINORIN

A series of correspondence, all attached under the title of A Situational Report on Deregalis Finorin.

Mahdoth—

The exacerbated excitations of Rinner Silverfind’s condition appear to be worsening rapidly. This in marked contrast to Tabaen and the other victims of the Oldtown event. I would urge you to prioritize his examination before the situation exceeds the limits of our control.

Danneth

Zairic—

Danneth brought this situation to my attention before his recent unpleasantness. Please conduct the appropriate observations to confirm his “urgings”.

Mahdoth

Master—

Although you are quite right not to trust anything to the word of that fool – and I am loath to do the same – in this matter I have found his suspicions to be quite correct, and beyond my personal measure of examination.

Zairic

Zairic—

My findings regarding the Silverfind case are quite alarming. There appears to be a sympathetic resonance between Silverfind’s excitations and the similar excitation of Deregalis.

Relocate Silverfind immediately to the antimagic containment cells. Increase the levels of sedation for Deregalis and immediately institute identical regimes for Silverfind.

Mahdoth

As Elestra read the situation report, Tee continued rifling the desks. Jimmying the lock on one of the drawers, she found detailed financial records. She thumbed through them long enough to notice that they went back about seven years. The first five years were all recorded in a single hand, but that changed about two years earlier. Then the handwriting changed again roughly a week ago (most likely because Zairic had replaced Danneth).

In the other desk, Tee found a hidden compartment. And inside that compartment she found Zairic’s spellbook. She took it over to Ranthir, who had been pouting over losing the spell he’d attempted to cast on Tor. “Does that make everything better?” she asked.

“It does!” he said, immediately looking immensely chipper.

The files lining the walls proved to be patient records. Following the paper trail from the situational report they had found on the desk, they pulled the patient records for Tabaen, Rinner, and Deregalis…

PATIENT RECORD FOR TABAEN FARSONG

This slim file contains the patient record for an elf named Tabaen Farsong. Tabaen was admitted on 9/15/790 and his record has been flagged as being “part of the Oldtown Incident”.

His condition is listed as “excitation of latent sorcery with a divinatory flavoring”. He is described as “non-dangerous”, but his condition is resulting in “psychological harm”.

On 09/19/790 there is an additional note: “Entered a comatose state.”

There has been no improvement in his condition since that date.

PATIENT RECORD FOR RINNER SILVERFIND

This slim file contains the patient record for a dwarf named Rinner Silverfind. Rinner was admitted on 09/15/790 and his record has been flagged as being “part of the Oldtown Incident”.

His condition is listed as “dangerous, uncontrollable excitation of latent sorcery with full-blown manifestation of arcane summonry”.

“The patient reportedly summoned a non-sortable variety of creatures at increasing rates of acclimation, but upon placement in the suppressive fields of the asylum the manifestations were brought under control. Unfortunately, the psychological trauma of the event has left the patient near-raving at all times – reporting voices, conspirators, and demons to be ‘locked in his cell’ with him.”

PATIENT RECORD FOR DEREGALIS FINORIN

This thick file contains the patient record for a human wizard named Deregalis Finorin. The file dates back almost twenty years, with an admission date of 04/28/771.

According to the records, Finorin suffers from an acute madness leading to the “perpetual casting and manifestation of powerful spells of arcane summoning”. The creatures resulting were both powerful and dangerous. Apparently the public believed him to have been executed years ago, but he was instead confined to Mahdoth’s.

Unfortunately, the “suppressive fields” of Mahdoth gradually “lost their effectiveness against this tumorous eruption of primal sorcery”, in ways that the asylum’s experts could not explain. Even moving Deregalis into an antimagic field had little effect: He continued to summon monsters.

Deregalis is now kept heavily sedated in a near-comatose state in a Special Isolation Spell to keep his powers from continually manifesting.

… and reading those gave them great cause for concern.

“The suppressive fields of Mahdoth?” Tee quoted.

“Does that mean that the suppressive fields down here emanate from him?”

“It’s possible,” Ranthir said.

Beyond the immediate danger of lowering those suppressive fields by killing Mahdoth, it served as a greater reminder that they were planning to wipe out the supervisory staff of an asylum full of mad arcanists.

“Who’s going to take over keeping them in line?” Tee asked. “Us? I don’t want that responsibility.”

Amidst much consternation they decided to pull back out of the complex. Instead of a scorched earth approach, they would severely limit the scope of their operation and content themselves with capturing the shipment before it could reach Wuntad’s hands.

“And kill Wuntad,” Elestra said.

“I don’t think he’ll be here,” Tee said.

“When you’re in charge of all the chaos cultists in Ptolus,” Tor said, “I think you can afford a few minions to pick up your mail.”

“Yeah,” Elestra said. “But he might be.”

“And then we kill him.” Tee agreed.

They briefly discussed the possibility of cleaning up the salon on the upper level so that Mahdoth would have no idea what happened to Zairic. But Ranthir didn’t have the proper spells prepared to make a quick magical job of it, so they decided it would cost them too much time to try to get the bloodstains out of the floor… and chair… and… well, everywhere.

They retreated through the windows, closed them behind them, and moved to the end of the Childseye Street dead-end loop to discuss their new plan of attack.

Running the Campaign: Speak with Dead SFX – Campaign Journal: Session 47A
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

Back to Surveyor’s Headquarters

The Red Company of Surveyors, along with the Fleet of Iron Sails, are, in many ways, the public face of a secret organization known as the Brotherhood of Yrkyth. While their ships charted the Whitewind Sea, the Brotherhood coordinated the gathering of arcane knowledge. They were also involved in the creation of Yrkyth’s “Engima Engine” (the plans for which are still held here within their inner sanctum).

Following Yrkyth’s disappearance in 651 IA, the Brotherhood withdrew even deeper within its cloak of secrecy. Although deeply tied to a variety of Vladaam activities, the Brotherhood is notable because none of the current Vladaam family are members. It’s a secret within a secret. However, the Brotherhood does arrange for certain arcane information gathered by the Brotherhood to be transmitted to the family for its benefit. (For example, the Brotherhood was responsible for forging the family’s connection with the dark dwarves in Catar, which resulted in the family gaining the services of the dark dwarf alchemy masters. See Part 7: Alchemical Labs.)

The sign of the brotherhood are four quills laid over each other to form the pattern of a diamond.

AREA 1 – GRAND ENTRANCE OF THE BROTHERHOOD

The walls, floor, and ceiling of this chamber are polished obsidian.

THE TABLE OF THE BROTHERHOOD: When a command phrase is spoken (“let us hold and send forth the eye of all knowledge”), a table and chairs rise from the living stone of the floor. The table has a long hollow running down its center, which can be filled with liquid for the Toasts of the Brotherhood.

HIDDEN CACHES – DC 20 Wisdom (Investigation): Two hidden caches, each in the center of the long walls, facing each other.

• Cache 1: Holds the Rites of the Brotherhood and Spells from the Wisdom of Arkath. (See handouts.)
• Cache 2: Holds 12 doses of Thoth’s Incense. There is a courier slip inside with a point of origin from an address on Brewer’s Close
• GM’s Background: This is the address of Alchemical Lab 1 – Bodyworks.

STAIRS: Lead to Area 7 of the Surveyor’s Headquarters, above.

AREA 2 – THE STELLAR LUMINOUS TABLET

Upon a three-tiered dais of blue diamond crystal stands a rectangular table upon which stands a strange apparatus next to a crystalline slab which glows with a blue-hued radiation. The light is strange – shadows seem darker here and inexplicable patterns dance in the corners of one’s eyes.

THE TABLET: The crystalline slab is a tablet formed from a white mineral that is always cold to the touch. It bears two columns of angular sigils, one column beneath a crescent glyph and the other beneath a circular glyph.

• Sigils: The sigils resist all magical efforts at translation.

BLUE RADIANCE OF ERYSH: The Stellar Luminous Tablet emits a blue-hued radiation that induces an awareness of the higher order of dimensions. The radiance overpowers all other illumination and resembles ultraviolet “black light” illumination. Within the radiance, as noted above, shadows seem somehow darker than they should be and odd patterns seem to dance.

• DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana): Recognizes the light as the Blue Radiance of Erysh.
• DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana): To be familiar with the properties of the Blue Radiance.
• Divinations: The Blue Radiance of Erysh is an extremely potent tool for the purposes of meditation, divination, and sorcerous research. Divination spells cast within the radiance are treated as if they had been cast with a spell slot one level higher.
• Crafting Magic Items: Magic items crafted within the Blue Radiance of Erysh gain extra potency at the GM’s discretion. (Spells cast through such an item might be treated as being cast with a higher spell slot, but other – and stranger – effects are also encouraged.)
• Madness: Those who make frequent use of the Blue Radiance of Erysh are often subject to obsession and madness. With intense, frequent exposure users become canker ridden and anemic. Anyone casting a divination spell within the Blue Radiance of Erysh must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or suffer a short-term madness. Anyone spending more than 1 hour within the Blue Radiance of Erysh must make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw (repeated once per day they remain within the radiance) or suffer a long-term madness.

APPARATUS OF LENSES & CRYSTALS: On the dais next to the Tablet. It can be rotated into position over the Tablet.

• DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana): To intuit that the apparatus is divinatory is nature. If the properties of the Blue Radiance are known (per the checks above), the full function of the device can be intuited (as described below).
• DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana): By correctly aligning the lenses and crystals around the Stellar Luminous Tablet and then casting divination spells through it, the efficacy of the Blue Radiance is doubled. (Treat the resulting spell as being cast with a spell slot two levels higher.)

GM Background: Recovered from one of the ecrupoli located throughout the Serpents Teeth in the Whitewind Sea. (The ecrupoli are the ruins left behind from the cities and settlements of Galchutt worshipers.)

(Thanks to Planet Algol for the Blue Radiance of Erysh.)

AREA 3 – SHRINE OF TERROR

The floor at the far end of this chamber is sunken down into a pit containing a cyclopean statue. The statue is positioned so that its head rises just above the edge of the pit, its multi-eyed gaze immediately fixating upon any entering through the door.

STATUE: The statue is broken and badly worn, leaving only the upper body of the figure (which is nevertheless 40 ft. tall). One arm lies on the floor of the pit, curved around the base of the remaining statue.

GM Background: The statue depicts a shaadom (Ptolus, p. 595). It was taken from an ecrupoli in the Serpents Teeth.

EFFECT OF THE STATUE:

• Terror: Creatures gazing upon the statue must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. While frightened by this spell, a creature must take the Dash action and move away from the statue by the safest available route on each of its turns, unless there is nowhere to move. If the creatures ends its turn in a location where it doesn’t have direct line of sight to the statue, the creature can make a new DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the effect ends for that creature.
• Fascination: Creatures who succeed on the first saving throw must make an additional DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or become disturbingly drawn to the statue (moving 10 ft. towards it each turn). The spell lasts until the victim touches the statue or is forcibly removed from the room.
• Lingering Whispers: If a victim touches the statue while under the effects of fascination, the statue will enter their dreams. Each night they will be visited by a progressively disturbing vision of the statue (starting with its eyes, torso, and eventually revealing the writhing tentacles of its lower body). This is accompanied by sibilant whispers and the like. The victim will awake each morning having suffered 1d2 levels of exhaustion.

The lingering whispers of the statue can be removed by casting remove curse with a 5^th level spell slot within an area affected by a hallow spell.

AREA 4 – THE SAGA OF YRKYTH

The walls of this outer chamber are inscribed with the Saga of Yrkyth (see handouts).

AREA 5 – SHRINE OF YRKYTH

A bronze statue depicts a one-armed man with a handsome, bearded face. One foot is raised to stand upon a thrust promontory of black rock. The figure’s gaze seems fixed upon some distant horizon. The name YRKYTH is emblazoned across the base of the statue.

DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation): To find a compartment hidden in the promontory of black rock which contains the Enigma Engine Lore (see handouts).

AREA 6 – GUILD INITIATION CHAMBERS

These chambers are used as a processional of initiation into the Brotherhood of Yrkyth.

AREA 6A – CHAMBER OF WANDS

Six wands are laid out on a table of mahogany in the center of the room.

• wand of magic missiles
• wand of invisibility
• wand of darkness
• wand of magic missiles
• wand of false life
• wand of enlarge person

GM Background – Initiation Ritual: The initiate must take one of the wands and break it, representing their dominion over arcane lore and their contempt for the trappings of power (when the true power lies within them).

AREA 6B – CHAMBER OF EGGS

The southern end of this chamber (beyond the pillars) is shrouded in magical darkness.

EGGS: Upon marble plinth sitting within the darkness are three eggs – two blue eggs and one red egg.

GM Background – Initiation Ritual: An initiate must break the two blue eggs without harming the red egg.

AREA 6C – CHAMBER OF THE SIGIL

A small writing station with various inks and tattooing instruments faces the far wall of the chamber. One sits at the station cross-legged upon a padded cushion.

ARCANE SIGIL: An invisible arcane mark is written upon the wall, directly in front of the writing station. Anyone capable of seeing it will find that it glows with an almost blinding intensity (DC 10 Constitution saving throw or blinded for 1d10 minutes). The sigil has a different color for each person who views it – sometimes the difference is subtle in hue; often it is radically different. Many report undertones to the hue of an unearthly or indescribable character.

GM Background – Initiation Ritual: An initiate must copy the sigil onto their own body. This is extremely difficult (requiring an appropriate skill check at DC 24), although using a prestidigitation spell makes it easier (requiring a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check).

AREA 6D – CHAMBER OF THE OATH

The entrance to this chamber is blocked by a wall of fire. Anyone bearing the sigil from Area 6C can pass through this wall of fire freely.

THE BLACK REVELER: Upon the wall is what appears to be the mounted body of some feathered monstrosity, but is, in fact, just a cleverly constructed fake.

THE SIGN OF THE BROTHERHOOD: The four-quilled diamond-feather guild badge appears in bas relief upon the floor.

GM Background – Initiation Ritual: An initiate must kneel upon the Sign of the Brotherhood before the Black Reveler (which depicts one of the incarnations of Bhor Kei) and swear the Oath of the Brotherhood of Yrkyth (see handouts).

Go to Part 14C: Crypts of the Brotherhood