Tower of the Necromancer
A S&W adventure site for 3-4 characters of levels 1-2.
Written by Riley
Adventure Summary Outside the Tower
Hidden amongst a copse of trees atop a The tower can be approached in two
small cliff lies the tower of Santha of ways; directly through the forest above,
Nikoza, the Conjurer. Recently villagers or heading into the cave system from
have reported seeing undead and the bottom of the cliff. The cliff is
hearing strange moaning sounds. scalable though it is trivial to travel
normally between the two.
The players seeing skeletons and
hearing the sounds of moaning undead A. Forest Approach
might guess that the tower houses an
Evil Necromancer. However, the truth is The surrounding area is dense forest,
that Santha recently captured an adult and the terrain is steep up to the cliff
Blink Dog and two pups. The moaning is edge. Through gaps in the tree canopy,
coming from the howling of the two the roof of a stone tower can be seen. In
pups echoing through the cave system the evenings a light can be seen through
below the tower, and the skeletons are a window on the top floor. 2:6 chance of
Santha’s mercenaries (their flesh has encountering 1d6+1 “skeleton”
“phased”), due to his testing of mercenaries (treat as Human, Bandit).
alchemical research using the Blink
Dog. The experiments have also had B. Tower
interesting results on his charmed Ogre.
A 3 story stone tower rises out of the
This adventure site is designed to be surrounding trees. Ivy grows up the old
placed in any forested hex near a small and worn bricks. There are windows on
town or village. Whilst it is okay to just the 2nd and 3rd floor facing to the east.
stumbled upon, adventurers might also There is a thick banded door on the
hear the following rumours: southern side. Above the lintel is
inscribed “Here resides Santha the
Rumours Conjurer” in Elvish.
1. People from town have gone C. Bottom of the Cliff
missing. (False)
A small clearing in the forest reveals a
2. Skeletal figures have been spotted in cliff face of jagged stone. The cliff rises
the forest. (Partially True) 30ft from the ground, trees can be seen
growing at the top. A harrowing
3. The moaning of the undead has been moaning sound can be heard ahead.
heard from a nearby cave system.
(Partially True) D. Cave Entrance
4. A light has been seen in the At the base of the cliff a low and wide
abandoned tower in the forest. (True) cave entrance can be seen, the moaning
sound seems to be originating from
Santha is not evil and is not necessarily within. The cave floor is rocky, several
hostile to adventurers; however, he does large animal carcasses are scattered
want to be left to his studies, and his about.
mercenaries will defend against
intruders. Because of this, this doesn’t E. Narrow Cave Entrance
need to be a dungeon crawl; Santha will
be open to hiring adventurers to Further along the cliff is another much
perform duties for him that would smaller cave, barely a crack in the stone.
otherwise require him to travel. If There is a thin coating of cobwebs along
adventurers are found to be trespassing, the walls. Entering here will require a
the reception will be less warm. character to crawl. The moaning can
also be heard from this entrance.
Tower General Description 1-5 Mess
The inside of the tower had richly Tankards and cutlery are strewn across
decorated wooden floors covered in fine a few tables, with old bones and scraps
rugs, the ceilings are about 9ft high and laying on top.
doors are all wooden, unlocked with
iron ring pulls. Roll for encounters 1-6 Bunk Room
normally, if one occurs 1:6 chance that it
is Santha moving between his quarters A number of bunks line the walls. Under
and the lab otherwise it is 1d3+1 each is a footlocker. They each contain
“skeleton” mercenaries going about personal effects along with 72gp. A
their duties. necklace with a large sapphire worth
350gp and a platinum ring worth 200gp
1-1 Entrance will also be found.
A plain open room. Old wooden 1-7 Kitchen
floorboards creak underfoot and are
lifting up from the ground. There are At all times a stew is boiling, the smell
two doors down a short corridor and a permeates the room. A long bench lines
spiral staircase leading to the floors the back wall, with all the necessary
above. implements to cook and clean.
There is a 2:6 chance of encountering 1-8 Storage
1d3+1 “skeleton” mercenaries, sat at a
table - otherwise they are outside on A small storage room, the shelves are
patrol. stocked with dried food stuffs and there
are sacks of potatoes in a corner.
1-2 Empty Room
One of the shelves appears less dusty
The room is dark and dusty, the corners and behind the jars a loose brick can be
are filled with cobwebs. removed, revealing 198gp.
1-3 Small Storage Room 1-9 Santha’s Chambers
The room is filled with larges crates of Halfway up the stairs carved into the
various sizes, most are empty only wood is a glyph. If triggered explodes
containing packing straw. However, a for 2d6 damage in 20’. The command
thorough search will reveal a small word to enable/disable this is ‘gelu’
lockbox containing 150sp and 3 small
rubies worth 50gp each. In the back Santha’s chambers are large and richly
corner is a trapdoor, leading down to 2- decorated. Along the northern wall is a
9. bed, side table (contains a potion of
healing and 2 rings, with large gems
1-4 Second Floor Landing 200gp each) and large closet containing
fine silk wizardly robes (150gp).
The spiral staircase leads up to a second
floor landing, a corridor winds its way Along the western wall is a small
around the tower before continuing up. laboratory/desk covered in alchemical
equiment and disorganised notes. Next
Living Quarters to the desk is a large mirror framed in
silver (Mirror of Mental Scrying). A
At any given time, there are 8 “skeleton” small library is also maintained (300gp
mercenaries in room 1-5 to 1-8. They rare books).
are on ‘break’ from their duties are are
either eating, sleeping or preparing Santha 4HD MU (11hp) AC 8.
food. Spells: Detect Magic, Sleep, Magic
Missile, Darkness (15ft), Levitate
Cave General Description 2-6 A Narrow Cave Entrance
The cave has a low ceiling, between 6 Filled with cobwebs, the cave is low and
and 8ft tall. The floor is uneven and tight so a character must crawl on hands
covered in loose stone, and the walls and knees to move through. Only one
and ceiling are rough. It is warm and hand may be used to fight or defend.
dry throughout. Sound echoes 3:6 chance spiders from 2-7 are alerted.
throughout, distorting as it travels; the
unnerving sound of undead moaning 2-6 B Cave (Spiders)
can be heard in 2-1, 2-6 and 2-7
everywhere else it is evident that it is, in 2 Giant Spiders (Smaller) are feasting
fact, the sound of hounds baying. on a goblin, they will attempt to attack
intruders in 2-6; otherwise, they will try
The Quantum Ogre begins in a room to hide and attack from behind.
between 2-1 and 2-4, and each turn will
teleport to a random room (roll a d4). If 2-7 Spider Lair
encountered the Quantum Ogre has a
3:6 chance of teleporting to another 6 Giant Spiders (Smaller) lie in wait on
room (otherwise treated normally as the ceiling of the cave. The corpses of a
an Ogre) small party of goblins are strewn upon
the floor, a large sum of coins have
2-1 Cave Entrance spilled (212gp and 253sp) and an
unusually large sword lies next to one of
The cave is warm and dry, the undead the goblins (2h sword +1)
moaning is loud here and bones crack
under foot. 2-8 Cells
2-2 Ogres Retreat Cells A, B and D are empty. Cell C
contains two Blink Dog Pups (2hp).
A foul stench permeates the room, a pile Arcane runes drawn in chalk and a ring
of hay is spread out along the western of salt lines the perimeter of the cell,
wall and large broken stones are stacked which prevent the pups from
in the southern portion. Hidden behind teleporting.
the rocks is a large sack. Among the
rotting remains of small dead animals A rusty iron gate leads out into a cave
and other strange trophies are 3 30gp system, the door is locked however the
gems and 50gp. key for this door and the cells are hung
upon the wall.
2-3 Cave
2-9 Store Room
This cave is empty; the floor is loose
gravel which crunches loudly underfoot. Cluttered crates and boxes. These are
empty, a ladder leads up to a trap door
2-4 Rusty Gate in the ceiling.
The northern portion of the cave has 2-10 Laboratory
been worked, and a rusty iron gate
blocks entry into a small prison. The The corpse of an adult blink dog lies on
howling of the dogs can be heard within, a central table, its inside removed and
and the keys can be seen hanging on the placed in nearby jars. 6 Potions of
wall a few meters inside. Invisible Flesh (appear as skeleton for 1
day) are on a shelf above alchemical
2-5 Centipedes equipment (worth 500gp).
In a a pile of refuse at the back of the Hung on a wall is a magic net, lined
cave are 7 Giant Centipedes (non- with silver hooks (any foe captured is
lethal). unable to teleport or phase).
