VICIOUS CYCLE
by Justin Evans
The
Start Here! Grimwreath
Woods
Fairy Ring
Greenheart
Greenheart embodies the forest, but
The Cycle he has no love for the Fey. Perhaps a deal
can be made if the adventurers prove themselves. He
Every ten years a group of adventurers is could even lead them to the Tomb of the Dragon Rider. If they
chosen to make an offering at the Fairy Ring. The choose to fight, however, they will find his antlers as sharp as spears.
favor of the Fey keeps the village protected from a dragon
named Grondelmere who hunts these lands. But, the Fey are fickle
and only the antlers of Greenheart, the mythical stag, will convince them
Grondelmere
that you are worthy of their blessing. You must find Greenheart deep within Grondelmere is almost godlike in his strength and power ... and with that
the Grimwreath Woods and convince him to part with his antlers one way arrogant. Encountering him is a challenge of skill to outwit or outrun him
or the other. With the dragon circling overhead, can you hunt down Green- as the wilderness explodes into flame. If the adventurers have the Sun-
heart and make it back to the Fairy Ring before the dragon finds you? Or derhorn then Grondelmere will pause if it is sounded, remembering his
is there some other way to break this vicious cycle? glory days. Perhaps a bargain can be struck or a new rider can be chosen?
The Quest The Tomb of the Dragon Rider
The adventurers start in the village hex and each day: The Tomb of the Dragon Rider does not start on the hex map but
can be found as a Discovery roll or through a deal with Green-
Grondelmere hunts The Shrine of Flame & Glory heart. A bramble wight guards the entrance to this sacred place
Roll d8 and place him in the numbered hex commanding thorny vines that bar the passage down. Once
Murals on the walls depict the glorious battles defeated the vines fall away revealing steps leading be-
fought by Bodvard while riding Grondelmere, the neath the earth and an epitaph ... or a clue: “Here lies
Greenheart moves sound of his horn bringing foes to their knees. Trap:
Roll d4 and place him in the numbered hex Bodvard. No arms or armor could stand against him.”
fire spits from the dragon head statues at either end
of the shrine if any metal passes before their eyes ...
The adventurers move to an adjacent hex arms or armor for example.
When entering a hex without Grondelmere
or Greenheart in it, roll for each: Recent Excavation
Others have dug a tunnel from the shrine
A Threat: d8* to the hall. The entrance in the shrine
1 No threat but you’re being watched is hidden behind a fallen pillar and pile
2 No threat but troubled sleep
3 Dragon’s fire burns the area Entrance of rubble. Something else found them as
they broke into the hall ... something that
4 Goblins also hunting Greenheart still lurks in the dark pit.
5 A crazed and paranoid druid
6 Sticky webs ... alert the spiders
7 A troll flees a swarm of bees
8 A witch twists the wilderness
around you into a maze Hall of the Honor Guard
9+ Grondelmere moves d4 hexes
toward the adventurers The rusted portcullis won’t budge due to the
shifted stones of the damaged hall. Phantoms
A Discovery: d8* of Bodvard’s Honor Guard still protect him
1 Roll another Threat even in death, stepping forth from their stat-
2 A hound, lost and hungry ues when someone enters the domed room,
3 A knight seeks to slay Grondelmere half on one side of the rift, half on the other.
4 An abandoned pack with something useful They fade if the Sunderhorn is blown.
5 A spring glows faintly, offering healing
6 A standing stone carved with ancient glyphs Underground Stream
7 One of the Fey interested in the hunt
8 The entrance to the Tomb of The Dragon Rider Connects the natural pool of water
9+ The wilderness awakens to the flooded rift. The Rift
Divides the Hall in half with
The Mood: d8* a plung down to murky water
1 Calm or dying down
2 Oblivious or slow moving
30 feet below. It would take a
mighty leap to cross.
Bodvard’s Crypt
3 Oblivious or slow moving Bodvard still clutches the Sunderhorn to
4 Curious or steady his chest in his sarcophagus.
5 Curious or steady
6 Suspicious or unpredictable
7 Suspicious or unpredictable
8 Violent or raging
9+ Violent or raging
Credit and Licensing Clip to track on the hex map
Map created using Dungeon Scrawl Open Beta v1.5.1 CC0
* For a roll of 1-8 cross off each result that is encountered. If Dungeon artwork by Mark Gosbell CC0
you roll a number that is crossed off, use the next higher number Hex map art kit and other artwork licensed
instead. from Steven Colling
Created by Justin Evans under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
