This guide will hopefully help DMs prepare and flesh out the adventures in Tales From the Yawning Portal. This is a work in progress. For the next week or two I'll be adding to the guide as I read through the adventure.
If you have any links pertaining to this book, such as DMs Guild products - maps for white plume, etc, feel free to send them to me and I'll add them to the list.
Links
Buy Tales From the Yawning Portal here.
You can buy the Mike Schley maps of the Citadel, Tamoachan and Thay right here.
The 4e Against the Giants has really great Mike Schley maps.
Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane - A new adventure in the series by Chris Perkins!
Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
Hall of the Fire Giant King
Undermountain Products:
Expedition to Undermountain
Halaster's Lost Apprentice
The Halls of Undermountain
List of Adventures by Level
This is the level each character should be when they start the adventure.
Adventure Anthology
Unlike the other adventure books, this one doesn't have a single, long story line. This is a collection of classic D&D adventures updated to 5th edition rules.
You could link them together. It might take a bit of work, but we can make that happen.
Undermountain: It might be fun to try to place these adventures in Undermountain, the mega-dungeon connected to the Yawning Portal. That way, your group can stay at the Yawning Portal and we can make a whole campaign out of this.
Dungeon Crawl-y: Just keep in mind that most of these adventures are dungeon crawls. There's not a lot of roleplaying and social interaction. They’re pretty linear. There is a lot of wackiness and puzzle-solving, which is a lot of fun.
Character Backgrounds
Linking characters to things in the adventures can get the players more into it. I’ll add to this list as we go through the book.
Downshadow: The character lived or grew up in the poverty-stricken shanty town of Downshadow, a community of vagabonds actually located in Undermountain.
Prisoners/Friends: In the Forge of Fury, there are two captives, Geradil and Courana on page 39-40. It says they're from a town near Blasingdell, but you could say they're from wherever you want if you want to link them to the group somehow.
(page 5) Introduction - The Yawning Portal
The book starts off with a few pages about the tavern known as The Yawning Portal.
There is a great, detailed Yawning Portal page from 3rd edition right here.
And then there's really great, official flavor for going down the well and graffiti you might find down there right here.
The Forgotten Realms Wiki has a very nice summary of the details in the Yawning Portal. It looks like they haven't updated it to the newer editions, but it gives you a nice starting point.
Essential Information: There's a few main details to know:
Getting Lowered Down: There is a large winch-and-pulley contraption that controls a thick rope with stirrups. The adventurers put their feet in the stirrups and are lowered down.
Getting Out: A bucket will be lowered down. The heroes must put their gold in it before they will be let up.
Patrons Gamble on You: The people in the bar like to bet on whether or not adventurers will survive. When someone pays to enter the well, the patrons cheer, share rounds of drinks and give the adventurers a going-away party.
Secret Entrance: There's actually another means of entry into Undermountain in the cellar of the Yawning Portal. It is a steeply-sloping hallway that leads to a cistern, a staircase, and a well shaft that has its own bucket, winch and rope. Durnan himself doesn't know it is there.
Map: There is a sweet poster map of the Yawning Portal that comes with the 4e Halls of Undermountain book. It’s on amazon now for $15. I think it is worth it if you’re going to use the inn a lot.
There is some great flavor text describing the tavern in Halaster's Lost Apprentice that you can use:
“The warm atmosphere of the Yawning Portal tavern offers a blessed relief from the bitter winter chill outside. Here, pipesmoke and the scent of spiced wine mingle with dozens of dialogues bleeding into one, while the snowy world lies trapped outside the heavily fogged glass.
In the midst of the folk talking and dancing is a wide circular well lit by everburning torches: the eponymous Yawning Portal, which, the legend holds, is an entrance to Undermountain, the legendary dungeon.
Intent on adventure—whether for sheer thrills or for matters material and financial—you settle into the smoky common room, looking about for a wealthy patron or a rumor of treasure to be found.”
There is also flavor text for being lowered down into the well:
“The staff of the Yawning Portal straps you one-by-one into a harness attached to a winch and pulley, then lowers you through the great well into the gloom of Downshadow, the shallowest depth of Undermountain. You journey down, trying hard not to think too much about the creaking old leather or the straining ropes.
Finally, it is over and your feet touch cool, wet stone. Before nerves can get the better of you, you wrench the harnesses free and tug on the ropes to signal them to be raised.
NPCs: I dug up some NPCs from old products you can use to flesh out the tavern.
Durnan the Sixth: Descendant of Durnan. He is practical and doesn't tolerate violence.
Kelsie: Durnan the Sixth's wife. She is a "pleasant-faced woman" whose mother was a cook at the Yawning Protal.
Kids: They have 9 kids, the oldest of which is Durnan the Seventh.
Endroth Knag: Member of the city watch being pressured to retire. He ponders unresolved cases as he sips ale.
The White Lady: An elderly elf wearing plain white robes. She comes in every night and whispers cryptic statements over and over.
Brother Sepulcher: A bald priest who wears grey robes and long, white gloves who likes to stare at a skull he keeps with him. He worships Jergal, the exarch of proper burial. Brother Sepulcher likes to record the name and description of each person who enters Undermountain.
Old Stannoc: An elderly halfling who is a gambler and odds maker. He tries to evaluate each adventurer before they go down so he can set proper odds.
Downshadow: There is actually a community of people who live in Undermountain. They are "coin-shy" and down on their luck. They have a shanty town of about 200 people.
There are some shady people down there, including a doppleganger and thugs who keep a pet giant scorpion on a chain.
(page 9) Chapter 1 - The Sunless Citadel
The story goes like this:
It slows the game down in a big way and it is very hard to describe certain areas. It can be frustrating if the player gets confused and the map gets all messed up.
You might want to pre-make a player's map that doesn't show secret doors or anything like that. You can cut it up into pieces or cover it with something and reveal it to the players as they explore.
Origin of Gulthias: Gulthias was a vampire. There's a nice summation of his backstory on page 31 of the monster manual.
(50 gp) The Magic Apple: A red apple of perfect hue. It heals those who suffer from any disease or other ailment.
Gaining Levels: The group will probably hit 2nd and 3rd level during this adventure. You should think about whether you want them to "ding" and immediately hit next level, or whether you want them to rest or even go back to Oakhurst in order for them to gain the level.
Marching Order: Make sure you know the marching order - how the group is aligned when they explore. You'll need to know who's in front, who's in back, that kind of thing. This place is loaded with pressure plates and pit traps.
You might want to write down the passive perception scores so you won't tip your players off when there's something in the area worth perceiving.
Random Encounters: Once the group hits rooms 13 and up, you roll on a random encounter chart every 12 hours in the game. You might want to just pick the monsters off of the list ahead of time so you're ready to go at the table.
This book only uses Monster Manual kobolds. You might want to switch in some Volo's kobolds (Volo's pg 165-167), as they seem like a lot of fun.
The Lost Adventuring Party
This adventure involves another adventuring party who went in and never came out. I made a list of their names and what happened to them:
Treasure: Each kobold and goblin has 2d10 silver. You could just say it's 10 silver to speed things up.
Ambush at Night: On their way to the citadel, if the heroes rest for the night, they'll be attacked by twig blights (MM page 32).
Dwarven Graffiti: You might want to come up with some amusing dwarven graffiti. This page has some awesome dwarven sayings.
You could probably use:
1. Ledge (page 12): This is all the way at the top of the map on page 13.
Giant Rats: MM page 327.
3. Crumbled Courtyard (page 12): The heroes need to walk over rubble. Dex save DC 10, if they fail by 5 or more they fall in to a little cavity/pit. No damage. Climbing out is a DC 10 STR (Athletics).
The noise has a 10% chance of attracting more giant rats. I would say just use common sense instead of rolling. If they're loud, the rats come.
On top of that, there is an actual pit trap. The hero will just fall in unless they have a passive Perception of 15 or more. They don't give a DC for getting out. Maybe they can't get out without help? The trap door shuts after one minute!
4. Tower Shell (page 13): There's a hard-to-find secret door here that's trapped with a needle. No save! Needle does 1 damage.
The graffiti mentions Ashardalon. Ashardalon is a massive red dragon who is the main bad guy at the end of the adventure path that was part of in 3rd edition. You might want to change the bad guy to someone that makes sense for your campaign world.
5. Secret Pocket (page 13): 3 skeletons (MM pg 272).
6. Old Approach (page 14): A keyhole in the mouth of a dragon statue on a door. Arcane lock (PH pg 215) is cast on it. To open this door, you must use a knock spell or make a DC 30 STR (Athletics).
The key to this thing is in the mouth of another dragon carving in area 21.
7. Gallery of Forlorn Notes (page 14): When the group gets in here, make sure you know where they are positioned. You'll want to know how close to the door they are when the charm hits.
This thing sends you running back to area 3, probably into the pit trap. If you look at the map, PCs who have a speed of 30 can almost make it there in one round. The rubble in 4 might actually save them.
8. Pressure Plate (page 14): This trap will go off every time the plate is stepped on! +5 to hit, 5 (d10) piercing.
9. Dragon Riddle (page 14): Answering the riddle opens the secret door. The heroes might find the secret door, but there is no other way to open it.
10. Honor Guard (page 15): Little tracks lead to an open, obvious spiked pit. Falling in causes a total of 2d10 piercing and d6 falling. Jot the quasit (MM page 63) is lurking nearby.
You could have Jot be invisible, and wait for the heroes to look in the pit. Then he could his scare power to frighten them, and you might rule that heroes at the edge of the pit must make a Dex save or fall in.
Remember, Jot wants to be attacked by 2+ people or be hit once so he'll be free of his magical binding. He might lurk nearby and heckle the group as they explore if that sounds fun to you.
If the group doesn't attack him for some reason, he could cut them a deal. He'll tell them about the secret door to 12 if they will hit him one time (and only once!).
11. Secret Room (page 15): The crawlspace is a really amusing/scary time for an unbound Jot to cause mischief.
12. Tomb of a Failed Dragonpriest: If the group opens this thing, they're facing a weakened version of a troll (MM pg 291): AC 15 HP 30 +7 to hit 11 (2d6+4) slashing dmg. Regen 5 at start of its turn. Acid/fire shuts this down. Acid or fire must be used to kill it for good.
Scrolls (DMG pg 199-200): If the spell is on your class list, you can cast it. If it's higher lever than you can cast, you must make an ability check DC 10+spell's level.
I used the chart on DMG pg 200 to figure out the bonus to hit and DC:
15. Dragon Cell (page 16): Meepo the kobold (MM page 195) was in charge of a white dragon wyrmling named Calcryx, but the goblins stole it. Meepo is quite distraught over this.
Meepo is a very famous D&D NPC. People play him a lot of different ways. It seems like a lot of times, he ends up as a sidekick to the heroes.
16. Kobold Guardroom (page 17): The door is trapped and is very easy to spot (DC 10 perception). It is likely the group will spot it with passive perception. The wire is on the other side, and when set off it drops a bucket of dragon poop that will actually poison you for a minute. Poisoned = disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
There's 3 kobolds (MM page 195) in here. If Meepo is with the group, he can just yell "Ticklecorn," the kobold safe word.
17. Dragon Chow (page 17): Swarm of rats (MM page 339)
18. Prison (page 18): Four goblin (MM page 166) prisoners. These things will beg to be free and are quite treacherous.
19. Hall of Dragons (page 18): If the group doesn't Ticklecorn their way through, we have a tough fight here:
20. Kobold Colony (page 18): A surplus of kobolds:
Yusdrayl can give the group a lot of info: The goblins and the twig blights serve an outcast named Belak, who is 'down below'. The kobolds believe they belong here because of the dragon paraphernalia.
There are a lot of keys here.. they go to areas 7, 15, 18, and 24. Treasure:
24. Trapped Access (page 19): It looks like if the group isn't cautious, the people in front are falling in to this pit trap: no save, d6 damage.
26. Dry Fountain (page 20): Say "let there be fire" and get yourself a potion of fire breathing (DMG pg 187) Once you drink it, you can do this three times: (bonus action) rg 30 one target makes a DEX save DC 13. 4d6 fire, half on a save.
The door to 27 has some traps. If a hero tries to open it, a scythe comes out of the ceiling and slices you: +5, 4 (d8) slashing. To open the door, you either need to use knock or turn undead.
27. Sanctuary (page 20): 5 skeletons (MM pg 272)
29. Disabled Trap (page 21): Let there be death! Poison mist Con save DC 10. Fail: 5 (d10) poison and poisoned for 10 minutes. Succeed: 1/2 dmg and poisoned for one minute!
30. Mama Rat (page 21): 3 giant rats (PH pg 327), Potion of healing (pg 188): 2d4+2
Guthash the Bloated One: AC 12 HP 16 +5 to hit, 4 (d4+2) piercing dmg. Has advantage when an ally is adjacent.
31. Caltrop Hall (page 21): 2 Goblins (MM pg 166). When the door is opened, a bell rings, alerting the goblins in 32
Caltrops (PH pg 151) If you move at half speed, you're fine. If you move normally, DC 15 Dex save or stop moving and take 1 piercing. Until you regain at least one hit point, your speed is reduced by ten feet.
Cover The 3 foot high wall must give them cover (PH pg 196). I'd say they have at least half cover, so +2 to AC and DEX saves.
33. Practice Range (page 22): 3 goblins (MM pg 166)
34. Goblin Stockade (page 22): Prisoners.. 3 kobolds (MM pg 195)
Erky Timbers, Gnome Acolyte: AC 10 HP 17 +2 2 (d4)
36. Goblin Bandits (page 23): 3 goblins (MM pg 166). If they can, they'll knock the group out and bring them to 34.
37. Trophy Room (page 23): Hidden in here is Calcryx, the white dragon wyrmling (MM pg 102)
The Map: If you plan on running Forge of Fury, definitely put a map that leads to Blasingdell or Khundrukar in the sealed scroll case in room 37.
38. Goblin Pantry (page 24): Mmmm... elf pudding.
39. Dragon Haze (page 24): Noise draws goblins from 36 and 40.
Lightly Obscured (PH pg 183): It's hard to see in here... disadvantage on perception checks using sight.
40. Goblinville (page 24): Cavalcade of goblins:
Grenl the Goblin Chief: AC 15 HP 10 +4 5 (d6+2) (bonus action) Disengage or Hide.
+3 spell attack, DC 11
Splint Mail Issue: It says in the book that Durnn has splint mail, and claims that it gives him an AC of 19! That looks like a mistake. Splint is AC 17 (PH pg 145).
Shaft: The adventure likes the idea of someone getting pushed into this shaft. DEX save DC 15 or take 8d6 damage!
Chest: Poison needle Dex save DC 15 or 1 piercing dmg and CON save DC 10 or 3 poison. Potion of healing 2d4+2, Faerie Fire (PH pg 239), Expeditious Retreat (PH pg 238)
42. Central Garden (page 27): Twig blights (MM pg 32) 2 robed skeletons (MM pg 272): AC 12 HP 13 +4 to hit 3(d6) shovel dmg
43. The Great Hunter's Abode (page 27): 1 bugbear (MM pg 33) 2 giant rats (MM pg 327)
45. Rift Node (page 27): Fire snake (MM pg 265) not an easy stat block to find!
47. Belak's Laboratory (page 27): 2 goblins (MM pg 166), 8 "Goblin Commoners" (MM pg 345): AC 10 HP 3 +2 1 (d4-1) dmg
Rat Disease: You grow tumors that look woody and fruit-like.
Healer's Kit (PH pg 151): 10 uses, auto-stabilize someone who is dying.
48. Garden Galleries (page 28): Bugbear with glaive: AC 16 HP 27 +4 to hit, 13 (2d10+2) dmg + surprise attack gives it +7 dmg
49. Arboretums (page 29): Many things in alcoves:
Alchemist's fire (PH pgs 148, 151): (Action) Throw it up to 20 ft, make rg attack, d4 fire dmg at the start of each of its turns. Creature can end the dmg with a DC 10 DEX check.
51. Dragon Library (page 29): Scorching ray (PH pg 273), Melf's acid arrow (PH pg 259)
53. Belak's Study (page 29): Glyph of Warding (PH pg 245) 20 foot radius sphere, DC 12 DEX save, 5d8 cold dmg, half as much on a save.
Entangle (PH pg 238), protection from poison (PH pg 270)
54. Grove Gate (page 30): 4 goblins (MM pg 166), 4 twig blights (MM pg 32)
55. Twilight Grove (page 30) 10 twig blights!(MM pg 32) d4-1 ("minimum 0") more arrive every round if there's noise.
Briars: Small creatures are fine in here. Large and up have problems...
Background: Descendant of Durgeddin: As a dwarf, you want to find and claim your ancestral home of Khundrakar. You should have some other dwarves to watch it while you're off doing stuff.
Geradil or Courana as a friend or relative: They get captured in Forge of Fury, page 40
(page 33) Chapter 2 - The Forge of Fury
Backstory: There was an underground dwarven settlement called Khundrukar was overrun 100 years ago. Now, monsters live there. Durgeddin, leader of the ancient dwarves, created a number of special swords.
There are 5 levels to this place:
I also think it might be cool if the orc captive was female, maybe an orc claw of luthic (Volo's page 183). They have beneficial spells like cure wounds and create food and water.
With a bit of effort, the group could befriend her and gain a trusty healer ally who can give them a lot of insight (info dump) on this scenario.
You could run it where her jailers treat her poorly, humiliate her. You can have one constable who's just a real jerk, an orc-hating sadist.
They charm her, they get the info they want out of her, and then intend to visit every cruelty they can think of upon her for months or even years. The group can step in, defend her, and give the constable their comeuppance.
Maybe the group realizes that the constable plans on scamming the town out of the swords once the group has obtained them.
Travel from Blasingdell to Stone Tooth: Will take 2 days if the group travels at normal speed ("Forced March" PH pg 81). It's 30 miles away, and they can cover 24 miles in 8 hours.
Be Ready: This is one of those adventures where a lot of thought went into monster reactions. There is a good chance that the group is going to have an epic battle right in the beginning if they are not careful. Definitely spend time looking over "Mountain Door Defenses" on page 37.
Stealth Checks in Armor: I always forget that people who wear certain armors have disadvantage on Stealth checks. That's padded leather (!), scale, half plate, ring mail, chain mail, splint and plate. That might be vitally important here.
Captured heroes end up in the cages of area 6 (pg 39)
Ways In:
Stealth? If the group doesn't stealth their way in, they are looking at either being locked out of the building or fighting most of the orcs here in one shot. That's an ogre, an orog, an orc Eye of Gruumsh, and 16 orcs.
If the group attacks the two orc guards, they run:
(page 38) 3. The Rift Hall: 2 orcs (MM pg 246) who have half cover (+2 to AC and DEX saves) from rock outcroppings.
Crossing the rope bridge is not good if you're under attack. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics).
The arrow slits are at least 15 feet up! Not good for the heroes.
Sneaking Past the Arrow Slits: Dexterity (Stealth) vs. Orc passive Perception of 10
If the group makes noise, they might hear the prisoners in 6 calling for help.
(page 39) 6. Prisoner Cave: 2 commoners (Geradil and Courana)
(page 40) 8. Orc Commons: Remember that the passage to 10 is blocked with plunder, and after that there's a locked door to get through. Burdug keeps her "little stirgies" safe.
(page 40) 9. Shaman's Lair: Orc Eye of Gruumsh (MM pg 247) , 2 orcs (MM pg 246)
Burdug's Strategy:
There is a really brutal trap in here. It goes like this:
Open the dwarf face door, napalm hits all in 15 feet. All within 15 feet of the door make a DC 10 Dex save.
After Two Rounds: The door slams shut and the trap resets.
Here's the Worst Part: There's nothing in there! Just some gunk that you might be able to make some alchemists fire (PH pg 148) out of.
(page 41) 11. Orc Quarters: 4 orcs (MM pg 246)
Shoving: The orcs pair up, each attacking one hero. One orc tries to shove (PH pg 195) a hero prone, that's +5 vs whatever the hero rolls on a Athletics or Acrobatics check. If the orc wins, the hero is prone and the other orc attacks with advantage.
(page 42) 12. Great Ulfe: Modified ogre (MM pg 237), 2 dire wolves (MM pg 321)
The door's heavy! DC 17 Strength to get in.
Great Ulfe: AC 11 HP 59 +6 to hit 17 (2d12+4) slashing
Potion of Climbing (DMG pg 187) Gain a climb speed equal to your normal speed for one hour.
(page 42) 13. Dwarven Statue:
Get Within 5 Feet of the Statue: 15 foot cone of poison gas DC 12 Con save until... a short rest! Wow. It resets after 1 minute. Run away from this statue. Far away!
(page 43) 14. Bunk Room: Orog (MM pg 247 ), 4 orcs (MM pg 246), Potion of healing: 2d4+2
He Healed Himself: There's nothing characters hate more than a bad guy who drinks a potion of healing. That's 2d4+2!
Next up… The Glitterhame
That’s it for today. Thanks!
If you have any links pertaining to this book, such as DMs Guild products - maps for white plume, etc, feel free to send them to me and I'll add them to the list.
Links
Buy Tales From the Yawning Portal here.
You can buy the Mike Schley maps of the Citadel, Tamoachan and Thay right here.
The 4e Against the Giants has really great Mike Schley maps.
Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane - A new adventure in the series by Chris Perkins!
Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
Hall of the Fire Giant King
Undermountain Products:
Expedition to Undermountain
Halaster's Lost Apprentice
The Halls of Undermountain
List of Adventures by Level
This is the level each character should be when they start the adventure.
- (lvl 1) The Sunless Citadel
- (lvl 3) Forge of Fury
- (lvl 5) Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
- (lvl 8) White Plume Mountain
- (lvl 9) Dead in Thay
- (lvl 11) Against the Giants
- ("high level") Tomb of Horrors
Adventure Anthology
Unlike the other adventure books, this one doesn't have a single, long story line. This is a collection of classic D&D adventures updated to 5th edition rules.
You could link them together. It might take a bit of work, but we can make that happen.
Undermountain: It might be fun to try to place these adventures in Undermountain, the mega-dungeon connected to the Yawning Portal. That way, your group can stay at the Yawning Portal and we can make a whole campaign out of this.
Dungeon Crawl-y: Just keep in mind that most of these adventures are dungeon crawls. There's not a lot of roleplaying and social interaction. They’re pretty linear. There is a lot of wackiness and puzzle-solving, which is a lot of fun.
Character Backgrounds
Linking characters to things in the adventures can get the players more into it. I’ll add to this list as we go through the book.
Downshadow: The character lived or grew up in the poverty-stricken shanty town of Downshadow, a community of vagabonds actually located in Undermountain.
Prisoners/Friends: In the Forge of Fury, there are two captives, Geradil and Courana on page 39-40. It says they're from a town near Blasingdell, but you could say they're from wherever you want if you want to link them to the group somehow.
(page 5) Introduction - The Yawning Portal
The book starts off with a few pages about the tavern known as The Yawning Portal.
There is a great, detailed Yawning Portal page from 3rd edition right here.
And then there's really great, official flavor for going down the well and graffiti you might find down there right here.
The Forgotten Realms Wiki has a very nice summary of the details in the Yawning Portal. It looks like they haven't updated it to the newer editions, but it gives you a nice starting point.
Essential Information: There's a few main details to know:
- Dungeon Entrance: This inn contains a 40-foot wide well with a low wall inside the main tavern. The well leads to the legendary dungeon of Undermountain.
- Immortal Owner: The bartender/owner is a retired adventurer named Durnan who has lived for hundreds of years. He was one of the first people to explore Undermountain and survive.
- Entrance Fee: The heroes will be charged 1 gp each to be lowered into the well. They will also be charged 1 gp each to come out. Durnan will not let people up if they don't pay.
Getting Lowered Down: There is a large winch-and-pulley contraption that controls a thick rope with stirrups. The adventurers put their feet in the stirrups and are lowered down.
Getting Out: A bucket will be lowered down. The heroes must put their gold in it before they will be let up.
Patrons Gamble on You: The people in the bar like to bet on whether or not adventurers will survive. When someone pays to enter the well, the patrons cheer, share rounds of drinks and give the adventurers a going-away party.
Secret Entrance: There's actually another means of entry into Undermountain in the cellar of the Yawning Portal. It is a steeply-sloping hallway that leads to a cistern, a staircase, and a well shaft that has its own bucket, winch and rope. Durnan himself doesn't know it is there.
Map: There is a sweet poster map of the Yawning Portal that comes with the 4e Halls of Undermountain book. It’s on amazon now for $15. I think it is worth it if you’re going to use the inn a lot.
There is some great flavor text describing the tavern in Halaster's Lost Apprentice that you can use:
“The warm atmosphere of the Yawning Portal tavern offers a blessed relief from the bitter winter chill outside. Here, pipesmoke and the scent of spiced wine mingle with dozens of dialogues bleeding into one, while the snowy world lies trapped outside the heavily fogged glass.
In the midst of the folk talking and dancing is a wide circular well lit by everburning torches: the eponymous Yawning Portal, which, the legend holds, is an entrance to Undermountain, the legendary dungeon.
Intent on adventure—whether for sheer thrills or for matters material and financial—you settle into the smoky common room, looking about for a wealthy patron or a rumor of treasure to be found.”
There is also flavor text for being lowered down into the well:
“The staff of the Yawning Portal straps you one-by-one into a harness attached to a winch and pulley, then lowers you through the great well into the gloom of Downshadow, the shallowest depth of Undermountain. You journey down, trying hard not to think too much about the creaking old leather or the straining ropes.
Finally, it is over and your feet touch cool, wet stone. Before nerves can get the better of you, you wrench the harnesses free and tug on the ropes to signal them to be raised.
NPCs: I dug up some NPCs from old products you can use to flesh out the tavern.
Durnan the Sixth: Descendant of Durnan. He is practical and doesn't tolerate violence.
Kelsie: Durnan the Sixth's wife. She is a "pleasant-faced woman" whose mother was a cook at the Yawning Protal.
Kids: They have 9 kids, the oldest of which is Durnan the Seventh.
Endroth Knag: Member of the city watch being pressured to retire. He ponders unresolved cases as he sips ale.
The White Lady: An elderly elf wearing plain white robes. She comes in every night and whispers cryptic statements over and over.
Brother Sepulcher: A bald priest who wears grey robes and long, white gloves who likes to stare at a skull he keeps with him. He worships Jergal, the exarch of proper burial. Brother Sepulcher likes to record the name and description of each person who enters Undermountain.
Old Stannoc: An elderly halfling who is a gambler and odds maker. He tries to evaluate each adventurer before they go down so he can set proper odds.
Downshadow: There is actually a community of people who live in Undermountain. They are "coin-shy" and down on their luck. They have a shanty town of about 200 people.
There are some shady people down there, including a doppleganger and thugs who keep a pet giant scorpion on a chain.
(page 9) Chapter 1 - The Sunless Citadel
The story goes like this:
- The Gulthias Tree creates two apples per year: One heals, and one kills.
- The tree is in a ruined place called The Sunless Citadel.
- To get to it, the group has to pass through an area where kobolds and goblins are at war.
- The heroes find the hidden grove and must deal with the Gulthias Tree, which is evil and producing evil creatures..
It slows the game down in a big way and it is very hard to describe certain areas. It can be frustrating if the player gets confused and the map gets all messed up.
You might want to pre-make a player's map that doesn't show secret doors or anything like that. You can cut it up into pieces or cover it with something and reveal it to the players as they explore.
Origin of Gulthias: Gulthias was a vampire. There's a nice summation of his backstory on page 31 of the monster manual.
(50 gp) The Magic Apple: A red apple of perfect hue. It heals those who suffer from any disease or other ailment.
Gaining Levels: The group will probably hit 2nd and 3rd level during this adventure. You should think about whether you want them to "ding" and immediately hit next level, or whether you want them to rest or even go back to Oakhurst in order for them to gain the level.
Marching Order: Make sure you know the marching order - how the group is aligned when they explore. You'll need to know who's in front, who's in back, that kind of thing. This place is loaded with pressure plates and pit traps.
You might want to write down the passive perception scores so you won't tip your players off when there's something in the area worth perceiving.
Random Encounters: Once the group hits rooms 13 and up, you roll on a random encounter chart every 12 hours in the game. You might want to just pick the monsters off of the list ahead of time so you're ready to go at the table.
This book only uses Monster Manual kobolds. You might want to switch in some Volo's kobolds (Volo's pg 165-167), as they seem like a lot of fun.
The Lost Adventuring Party
This adventure involves another adventuring party who went in and never came out. I made a list of their names and what happened to them:
- Karakas the Ranger (pg 21) Killed by rats
- Talgyn (pg 25) Killed by Durnn the hobgoblin
- Sharwyn (pg 30, stats pg 242) Controlled by Belak
- Sir Braford (pg 30, stats pg 243) Controlled by Belak
Treasure: Each kobold and goblin has 2d10 silver. You could just say it's 10 silver to speed things up.
Ambush at Night: On their way to the citadel, if the heroes rest for the night, they'll be attacked by twig blights (MM page 32).
Dwarven Graffiti: You might want to come up with some amusing dwarven graffiti. This page has some awesome dwarven sayings.
You could probably use:
- "Evil breeds in the guts of the lazy."
- "It is easy to fool a goblin, but even easier to kill one."
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1. Ledge (page 12): This is all the way at the top of the map on page 13.
Giant Rats: MM page 327.
3. Crumbled Courtyard (page 12): The heroes need to walk over rubble. Dex save DC 10, if they fail by 5 or more they fall in to a little cavity/pit. No damage. Climbing out is a DC 10 STR (Athletics).
The noise has a 10% chance of attracting more giant rats. I would say just use common sense instead of rolling. If they're loud, the rats come.
On top of that, there is an actual pit trap. The hero will just fall in unless they have a passive Perception of 15 or more. They don't give a DC for getting out. Maybe they can't get out without help? The trap door shuts after one minute!
4. Tower Shell (page 13): There's a hard-to-find secret door here that's trapped with a needle. No save! Needle does 1 damage.
The graffiti mentions Ashardalon. Ashardalon is a massive red dragon who is the main bad guy at the end of the adventure path that was part of in 3rd edition. You might want to change the bad guy to someone that makes sense for your campaign world.
5. Secret Pocket (page 13): 3 skeletons (MM pg 272).
6. Old Approach (page 14): A keyhole in the mouth of a dragon statue on a door. Arcane lock (PH pg 215) is cast on it. To open this door, you must use a knock spell or make a DC 30 STR (Athletics).
The key to this thing is in the mouth of another dragon carving in area 21.
7. Gallery of Forlorn Notes (page 14): When the group gets in here, make sure you know where they are positioned. You'll want to know how close to the door they are when the charm hits.
This thing sends you running back to area 3, probably into the pit trap. If you look at the map, PCs who have a speed of 30 can almost make it there in one round. The rubble in 4 might actually save them.
8. Pressure Plate (page 14): This trap will go off every time the plate is stepped on! +5 to hit, 5 (d10) piercing.
9. Dragon Riddle (page 14): Answering the riddle opens the secret door. The heroes might find the secret door, but there is no other way to open it.
10. Honor Guard (page 15): Little tracks lead to an open, obvious spiked pit. Falling in causes a total of 2d10 piercing and d6 falling. Jot the quasit (MM page 63) is lurking nearby.
You could have Jot be invisible, and wait for the heroes to look in the pit. Then he could his scare power to frighten them, and you might rule that heroes at the edge of the pit must make a Dex save or fall in.
Remember, Jot wants to be attacked by 2+ people or be hit once so he'll be free of his magical binding. He might lurk nearby and heckle the group as they explore if that sounds fun to you.
If the group doesn't attack him for some reason, he could cut them a deal. He'll tell them about the secret door to 12 if they will hit him one time (and only once!).
11. Secret Room (page 15): The crawlspace is a really amusing/scary time for an unbound Jot to cause mischief.
12. Tomb of a Failed Dragonpriest: If the group opens this thing, they're facing a weakened version of a troll (MM pg 291): AC 15 HP 30 +7 to hit 11 (2d6+4) slashing dmg. Regen 5 at start of its turn. Acid/fire shuts this down. Acid or fire must be used to kill it for good.
Scrolls (DMG pg 199-200): If the spell is on your class list, you can cast it. If it's higher lever than you can cast, you must make an ability check DC 10+spell's level.
I used the chart on DMG pg 200 to figure out the bonus to hit and DC:
- Command (PH pg 223): DC 13
- Cure Wounds lvl 2 (PH pg 230): 2d8 + spellcasting modifier.
- Inflict Wounds lvl 2 (PH pg 230): +5 to hit, Hit: 4d10 necrotic! Not too shabby.
- Guiding Bolt lvl 2 (PH pg 248): rg 120, +5 to hit. Hit: 5d6 radiant and the next attack against the target has advantage.
15. Dragon Cell (page 16): Meepo the kobold (MM page 195) was in charge of a white dragon wyrmling named Calcryx, but the goblins stole it. Meepo is quite distraught over this.
Meepo is a very famous D&D NPC. People play him a lot of different ways. It seems like a lot of times, he ends up as a sidekick to the heroes.
16. Kobold Guardroom (page 17): The door is trapped and is very easy to spot (DC 10 perception). It is likely the group will spot it with passive perception. The wire is on the other side, and when set off it drops a bucket of dragon poop that will actually poison you for a minute. Poisoned = disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
There's 3 kobolds (MM page 195) in here. If Meepo is with the group, he can just yell "Ticklecorn," the kobold safe word.
17. Dragon Chow (page 17): Swarm of rats (MM page 339)
18. Prison (page 18): Four goblin (MM page 166) prisoners. These things will beg to be free and are quite treacherous.
19. Hall of Dragons (page 18): If the group doesn't Ticklecorn their way through, we have a tough fight here:
- 3 kobolds (MM page 195) With 7 hit points instead of 5.
- Round 3: Yusdrayl (page 248) and her 2 more kobolds with 7 HP guards from Area 21
- Round 5: 3 Kobolds from area 16.
- Round 8: 3 Kobolds from area 23.
20. Kobold Colony (page 18): A surplus of kobolds:
- 3 Kobolds (mm pg 195)
- 7 "kobold commoners" (MM pg 345): AC 10 HP 3 +1 to hit, 1 (d4-1) bludgeoning dmg.
- 14 no-stat kobold riff raff
Yusdrayl can give the group a lot of info: The goblins and the twig blights serve an outcast named Belak, who is 'down below'. The kobolds believe they belong here because of the dragon paraphernalia.
There are a lot of keys here.. they go to areas 7, 15, 18, and 24. Treasure:
- Quaal's feather token (DMG pg 188-189) (Tree): This can only be used outdoors. It makes a tree, with bark and everything.
- Elixir of health, 3 doses (DMG pg 168) Removes disease/poison/blindness etc.
- Mage armor (PH pg 256), spider climb (PH pg 277) knock (PH pg 254)
24. Trapped Access (page 19): It looks like if the group isn't cautious, the people in front are falling in to this pit trap: no save, d6 damage.
26. Dry Fountain (page 20): Say "let there be fire" and get yourself a potion of fire breathing (DMG pg 187) Once you drink it, you can do this three times: (bonus action) rg 30 one target makes a DEX save DC 13. 4d6 fire, half on a save.
The door to 27 has some traps. If a hero tries to open it, a scythe comes out of the ceiling and slices you: +5, 4 (d8) slashing. To open the door, you either need to use knock or turn undead.
27. Sanctuary (page 20): 5 skeletons (MM pg 272)
- Potion of resistance (fire) (DMG page 188) lasts one hour
- Night Caller the magic whistle (page 228-229) Animate dead (PH pg 212)
29. Disabled Trap (page 21): Let there be death! Poison mist Con save DC 10. Fail: 5 (d10) poison and poisoned for 10 minutes. Succeed: 1/2 dmg and poisoned for one minute!
30. Mama Rat (page 21): 3 giant rats (PH pg 327), Potion of healing (pg 188): 2d4+2
Guthash the Bloated One: AC 12 HP 16 +5 to hit, 4 (d4+2) piercing dmg. Has advantage when an ally is adjacent.
31. Caltrop Hall (page 21): 2 Goblins (MM pg 166). When the door is opened, a bell rings, alerting the goblins in 32
Caltrops (PH pg 151) If you move at half speed, you're fine. If you move normally, DC 15 Dex save or stop moving and take 1 piercing. Until you regain at least one hit point, your speed is reduced by ten feet.
Cover The 3 foot high wall must give them cover (PH pg 196). I'd say they have at least half cover, so +2 to AC and DEX saves.
33. Practice Range (page 22): 3 goblins (MM pg 166)
34. Goblin Stockade (page 22): Prisoners.. 3 kobolds (MM pg 195)
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| Erky Timbers |
Erky Timbers, Gnome Acolyte: AC 10 HP 17 +2 2 (d4)
- 3x: Bless (PH pg 219), Cure Wounds (PH pg 230, Sanctuary (PH pg 272)
36. Goblin Bandits (page 23): 3 goblins (MM pg 166). If they can, they'll knock the group out and bring them to 34.
37. Trophy Room (page 23): Hidden in here is Calcryx, the white dragon wyrmling (MM pg 102)
The Map: If you plan on running Forge of Fury, definitely put a map that leads to Blasingdell or Khundrukar in the sealed scroll case in room 37.
38. Goblin Pantry (page 24): Mmmm... elf pudding.
39. Dragon Haze (page 24): Noise draws goblins from 36 and 40.
Lightly Obscured (PH pg 183): It's hard to see in here... disadvantage on perception checks using sight.
40. Goblinville (page 24): Cavalcade of goblins:
- 3 goblins (MM pg 166)
- 10 "Goblin Commoners" (MM pg 345): AC 10 HP 3 +2 1 (d4-1) dmg
- 20 no-stat Goblin Freeloaders who want free stuff from the government.
Grenl the Goblin Chief: AC 15 HP 10 +4 5 (d6+2) (bonus action) Disengage or Hide.
+3 spell attack, DC 11
- At will: Poison spray (PH pg 266), Thaumaturgy (PH pg 282)
- 2x: Bane (PH pg 216), inflict wounds (PH pg 253)
Splint Mail Issue: It says in the book that Durnn has splint mail, and claims that it gives him an AC of 19! That looks like a mistake. Splint is AC 17 (PH pg 145).
Shaft: The adventure likes the idea of someone getting pushed into this shaft. DEX save DC 15 or take 8d6 damage!
Chest: Poison needle Dex save DC 15 or 1 piercing dmg and CON save DC 10 or 3 poison. Potion of healing 2d4+2, Faerie Fire (PH pg 239), Expeditious Retreat (PH pg 238)
42. Central Garden (page 27): Twig blights (MM pg 32) 2 robed skeletons (MM pg 272): AC 12 HP 13 +4 to hit 3(d6) shovel dmg
43. The Great Hunter's Abode (page 27): 1 bugbear (MM pg 33) 2 giant rats (MM pg 327)
45. Rift Node (page 27): Fire snake (MM pg 265) not an easy stat block to find!
47. Belak's Laboratory (page 27): 2 goblins (MM pg 166), 8 "Goblin Commoners" (MM pg 345): AC 10 HP 3 +2 1 (d4-1) dmg
Rat Disease: You grow tumors that look woody and fruit-like.
Healer's Kit (PH pg 151): 10 uses, auto-stabilize someone who is dying.
48. Garden Galleries (page 28): Bugbear with glaive: AC 16 HP 27 +4 to hit, 13 (2d10+2) dmg + surprise attack gives it +7 dmg
49. Arboretums (page 29): Many things in alcoves:
- Goblin (MM pg 166)
- 3 "Goblin Commoners" (MM pg 345): AC 10 HP 3 +2 1 (d4-1) dmg3
- Fire snake (MM pg 265)
- 3 skeletons AC 12 HP 13 +4 to hit 3(d6) shovel dmg
- Twig blight (MM pg 32)
- Potion of healing: 2d4+2
Alchemist's fire (PH pgs 148, 151): (Action) Throw it up to 20 ft, make rg attack, d4 fire dmg at the start of each of its turns. Creature can end the dmg with a DC 10 DEX check.
51. Dragon Library (page 29): Scorching ray (PH pg 273), Melf's acid arrow (PH pg 259)
53. Belak's Study (page 29): Glyph of Warding (PH pg 245) 20 foot radius sphere, DC 12 DEX save, 5d8 cold dmg, half as much on a save.
Entangle (PH pg 238), protection from poison (PH pg 270)
54. Grove Gate (page 30): 4 goblins (MM pg 166), 4 twig blights (MM pg 32)
55. Twilight Grove (page 30) 10 twig blights!(MM pg 32) d4-1 ("minimum 0") more arrive every round if there's noise.
Briars: Small creatures are fine in here. Large and up have problems...
- Normal Speed: Large creatures moving through the briars must make a DC 10 CON save every ten feet or 1 piercing
- Slow Down: Spend two feet of movement for every one foot moved, no check.
- Belak the Outcast (druid, MM pg 346)
- Sir Braford (pg 242) Tries to use Shatterspike (pg 229) to shatter weapons!
- Sharwyn Hucrele (pg 243)
- 3 twig blights (MM pg 32)
- Kulket the Giant Frog (MM pg 325)
- 3 Potions of healing 2d4+2
- Antitoxin (PH pg 151) Advantage on saves vs. poison for one hour.
- Wand of Entangle (page 229)
Background: Descendant of Durgeddin: As a dwarf, you want to find and claim your ancestral home of Khundrakar. You should have some other dwarves to watch it while you're off doing stuff.
Geradil or Courana as a friend or relative: They get captured in Forge of Fury, page 40
(page 33) Chapter 2 - The Forge of Fury
Backstory: There was an underground dwarven settlement called Khundrukar was overrun 100 years ago. Now, monsters live there. Durgeddin, leader of the ancient dwarves, created a number of special swords.
There are 5 levels to this place:
- The Mountain Door: Orcs
- The Glitterhame: Troglodytes
- The Sinkhole: A river
- The Foundry: Forge with many a duergar
- The Black Lake: Nightscale, the black dragon
- The group finds a map
- Orcs are raiding Balsingdell. They are coming from Stone Tooth/Khundrukar.
- Baron Althon hires the group to go to Khundrukar and recover as many of Durgedden's blades as possible. He'll pay them 100 gp if they map the place out, too.
- Location: 30 miles from Stone Tooth/Khundrukar
- Constable: Dara Whitewood
- Store: Tolm's Superior Outfitting and Dry Goods
- Inn: The Griffon's Nest Inn and Tavern
- Church: Temple (of a deity chosen by you) run by Sister Alonsa.
- Orc Prisoner: Captured, charm person got it to give directions to Stone Tooth
I also think it might be cool if the orc captive was female, maybe an orc claw of luthic (Volo's page 183). They have beneficial spells like cure wounds and create food and water.
With a bit of effort, the group could befriend her and gain a trusty healer ally who can give them a lot of insight (info dump) on this scenario.
You could run it where her jailers treat her poorly, humiliate her. You can have one constable who's just a real jerk, an orc-hating sadist.
They charm her, they get the info they want out of her, and then intend to visit every cruelty they can think of upon her for months or even years. The group can step in, defend her, and give the constable their comeuppance.
Maybe the group realizes that the constable plans on scamming the town out of the swords once the group has obtained them.
Travel from Blasingdell to Stone Tooth: Will take 2 days if the group travels at normal speed ("Forced March" PH pg 81). It's 30 miles away, and they can cover 24 miles in 8 hours.
- One Step Over the Razor’s Edge: If they want to hustle and get there in one day, that takes 10 hours total. They would need to make a CON save DC 11 (hour 9) and DC 12 (hour 10). Each failing means they gain a level of exhaustion (PH pg 291).
Be Ready: This is one of those adventures where a lot of thought went into monster reactions. There is a good chance that the group is going to have an epic battle right in the beginning if they are not careful. Definitely spend time looking over "Mountain Door Defenses" on page 37.
Stealth Checks in Armor: I always forget that people who wear certain armors have disadvantage on Stealth checks. That's padded leather (!), scale, half plate, ring mail, chain mail, splint and plate. That might be vitally important here.
Captured heroes end up in the cages of area 6 (pg 39)
Ways In:
- The Mountain Door: leads to area 1 (page 36)
- The Chimney: Leads to area 7 - This is risky. 80 foot drop, DC 15 Strength (Athletics). Fail by 5 or more make a DC 10 Strength save or fall and take up to 8d6 damage +3 fire (yes, you land in fire).
- Orc Tunnel: Leads to area 21
- (The Dark Mere) The adventure doesn't want this used.. the group would skip right to the end. But it's there.
Stealth? If the group doesn't stealth their way in, they are looking at either being locked out of the building or fighting most of the orcs here in one shot. That's an ogre, an orog, an orc Eye of Gruumsh, and 16 orcs.
If the group attacks the two orc guards, they run:
- Round 1: The orcs shout a warning and run inside.
- Round 2: The four orcs in room 4 shoot through arrow slits that are 15 feet up on the wall (longbows, +3 to hit, 5 (1d8+1) dmg). They've got three-quarters cover (PH pg 196) which means +5 to AC and Dex saves.
- Round 3: The 2 orcs run across the bridge in 3. One archer runs to 2 and bars the doors shut.
- Round 4: Two orcs get to 5.
- Round 5: Orcs cut the rope to the bridge in 3! 4 orc archers continue shooting. The orc Eye of Gruumsh shows up to help he archers.
- Round 8: Orcs (and the orog?) from 14 show up in 5.
- Round 12: Great Ulfe and the 4 orcs from 11 set up in 5.
(page 38) 3. The Rift Hall: 2 orcs (MM pg 246) who have half cover (+2 to AC and DEX saves) from rock outcroppings.
Crossing the rope bridge is not good if you're under attack. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics).
- Success: Move at half speed.
- Fail: No movement. Fail by 5 or more: Fall 200 feet into a river and make a new character!
- One Rope Cut: The Bridge-crossing DC is now 12.
- Both Ropes Cut: 7 bludgeoning damage, and a DC 12 Strength or Dexterity saving throw. Fail: Fall to your doom.
The arrow slits are at least 15 feet up! Not good for the heroes.
Sneaking Past the Arrow Slits: Dexterity (Stealth) vs. Orc passive Perception of 10
If the group makes noise, they might hear the prisoners in 6 calling for help.
(page 39) 6. Prisoner Cave: 2 commoners (Geradil and Courana)
(page 40) 8. Orc Commons: Remember that the passage to 10 is blocked with plunder, and after that there's a locked door to get through. Burdug keeps her "little stirgies" safe.
(page 40) 9. Shaman's Lair: Orc Eye of Gruumsh (MM pg 247) , 2 orcs (MM pg 246)
Burdug's Strategy:
- Round 1: Command (PH page 223) on a fighter-type, DC 11 Wisdom save. Probably go with Grovel: The target falls prone and ends their turn.
- Round 2: Bless (PH pg 219) All 3 bad guys get +d4 to attacks and saves. This is a concentration spell.
- Round 3: (bonus action) Spiritual weapon (PH pg 278) +3 to hit d8+3. She can use this as a bonus action each round.
- Emergency: Burdug might chuck some alchemists fire (rg 20 +5, d4 fire at the start of each turn, end it with a DC 10 Dex check), run to 10 and sick the stirges on the group.
There is a really brutal trap in here. It goes like this:
Open the dwarf face door, napalm hits all in 15 feet. All within 15 feet of the door make a DC 10 Dex save.
- Fail: Take 10 (4d4) fire and they take 5 (2d4) fire at the start of each turn.
- Succeed: half dmg and 5 (2d4) fire at the start of each turn.
After Two Rounds: The door slams shut and the trap resets.
Here's the Worst Part: There's nothing in there! Just some gunk that you might be able to make some alchemists fire (PH pg 148) out of.
(page 41) 11. Orc Quarters: 4 orcs (MM pg 246)
Shoving: The orcs pair up, each attacking one hero. One orc tries to shove (PH pg 195) a hero prone, that's +5 vs whatever the hero rolls on a Athletics or Acrobatics check. If the orc wins, the hero is prone and the other orc attacks with advantage.
(page 42) 12. Great Ulfe: Modified ogre (MM pg 237), 2 dire wolves (MM pg 321)
The door's heavy! DC 17 Strength to get in.
Great Ulfe: AC 11 HP 59 +6 to hit 17 (2d12+4) slashing
Potion of Climbing (DMG pg 187) Gain a climb speed equal to your normal speed for one hour.
(page 42) 13. Dwarven Statue:
Get Within 5 Feet of the Statue: 15 foot cone of poison gas DC 12 Con save until... a short rest! Wow. It resets after 1 minute. Run away from this statue. Far away!
(page 43) 14. Bunk Room: Orog (MM pg 247 ), 4 orcs (MM pg 246), Potion of healing: 2d4+2
He Healed Himself: There's nothing characters hate more than a bad guy who drinks a potion of healing. That's 2d4+2!
Next up… The Glitterhame
That’s it for today. Thanks!