Deathdusk Passage
Deathdusk Passage is designed to provide an exciting one- shot adventure for players traveling to another location. The entrance and exit of the tunnel can begin and end wherever you desire. The encounters each represent a different area of the passage, which could contain countless other encounters and mysteries. You could even use this delve as an entrance to the Underdark, Undermountain, or another dungeon of your choosing. Your players could be looking for a shortcut and decide to brave the passage, need to retrieve something from within, or simply stumble upon it—there is no more story necessary.
Appearing at first glance to be the entrance to an ornate, stone crypt, the Deathdusk passage has existed for centuries as a shortcut for those willing to brave its darkness. Its crafts- manship is of dwarven origin—no other stonework would have endured so long—though the purpose of its construction remains a mystery.
Just inside, stairs descend into the darkness, masking the presence of hungry monsters, just waiting for a party of inexperienced adventurers. What lies beyond the entrance in uncertain; few have seen and survived the dangers of Deathdusk passage, and they refuse to speak of what lies below. But even without credibility, stories surrounding the passage are plentiful. Tales of endless pits, deadly traps, and forsaken travelers, now waiting in the deep to embrace new adventurers and pull them into the dark.
Whether from fear of such stories, or just simple superstitions, most people ignore the passage entirely, choosing instead to follow the slow and winding mountain trail to their destination. Such a choice is wise, and those who make it nearly always reach their destination unscathed; those that enter Deathdusk passage, on the other hand, are more likely to disappear than reach the other side. Most sneer at the few who dare to attempt the tunnel and lose their lives, but to some, those brave, adventurous few—the journey itself has always meant more than the destination.
Copyright: creative commons non-commercial license
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I just ran Deathdusk Passage for a party of 5 level 2 pcs, and I loved the first and last encounters (the oozes and the statues). The second encounter needs a bit more polish (the bats). Since the bats are only a threat when in darkness, and can't use forced movement to push people off the bridge unless they crit, it only took the party to light up a sunrod to make the encounter trivial.
My party just ignored them and moved up to the third encounter, with more resources than they should have since they practically skipped the second encounter. The third encounter was fun, but not really challenging, since they had lots of healing surges and powers to spend, even when I modified the encounter so the party dealt no damage to same-color statues, and gained no bonus from hitting opposite-color statues.