Carrion crown trial of the beast

Carrion Crown 2: Trial of the Beast requires ownership of original pathfinder module The mob demands blood after the capture of a legendary monster. But is the monster guilty? Can a creature without a soul be defended? Can the heroes prove the Beast's innocence, or have they been handed an impossible task? In this adventure designed for three to four characters starting at level 4, players are turned into investigative defense lawyers for a terrible Beast that has long roamed the Viestadt countryside.

Their investigations will take them to dark towns, a destroyed asylum, and a mad alchemist's castle on a twisted search for the truth. New content for DND 5 includes a range of interesting beasts and alchemical items that could be used in your own adventures!

Join the discussion. Carrion Crown 2: Trial of the Beast requires ownership of original pathfinder module The mob The creature must make a DC 12 Deterity save or become restrained. The creature can use their action on their turn to attempt to break free with a DC 14 Strength roll. On every round after the first one they are stuck, they have advantage on the roll. Wondrous Item, Common Can be thrown at a creature within 15 feet.

That creature must make a DC 12 Constitution save or be blinded for 1d4 rounds. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target is instead poisoned for 5 1d10 minutes and unconscious while poisoned in this way.

Wondrous Item, Common This oily substance, when poured over a weapon, item, or armor acts like a second layer of iron, protecting the item from incurring any damage for 1 hour. It also prevents the item from being targetted by the spell Heat Metal. Otherwise, it offers no extra protection to the user of the item, weapon, or armor and does not protect against conditions, like Petrify.

Disintegrate bypasses the bladeguard and can destroy objects as described in the spell. Wondrous Item, Common This pixie dust, when spread over a weapon with a bonus action, gives it the magical property, allowing it to bypass appropriate damage resistances and immunities. After one successful attack, the effect wears off.

If this attack does not occur within an hour, the effect is wasted. Wondrous Item, Common This silvery oil which looks like liquid metal gives a weapon the silver property when poured over it as a bonus action, allowing it to bypass appropriate damage resistances and immunities.

After one successful strike, the effect wears off. Wondrous Item, Common This material, which looks like a thick mud, hardens quickly when spread over a weapon as a bonus action, and gives it the adamantine property, allowing it to bypass appropriate damage resistances and immunities.

It is not detailed in the module, but if clever players seek to get into the factory another way, then the sewers might make for an interesting detour. Players who seek entry through the sewers will need darkvision or a light source and will have to succeed at three DC 16 Survival checks each one representing fifteen minutes of travel to navigate the maze of tunnels and find this entrance, then figure out how to get past the grille bashing away at it or ripping it free with Strength should alert Grine and Vorkstag.

Every two survival checks that are made, roll on the Encounter Table on the following page, rerolling any repeated events. Once Vorkstag and Grine have either been killed, captured, or have escaped, the players are interrupted by Auren Vrood.

He had come here to quietly dispose of the two wayward fey and currently has greater invisibility cast on himself. Upon seeing the players he is caught off guard. Not yet knowing their strength, he decides not to attack them for now and instead casts Mislead to create an image of himself to address the players while he remains invisible.

He is haughty at this meeting and tells the players to beware of "meddling in things they do not understand. Be wary of listening to them. They know who they send you to face. If the players attack Vrood, they'll discover the image is an illusion. The real Vrood will escape before they can find him.

Grine is more likely to surrender than Vorkstag if cornered as his desires for self-preservation outdo his propensity for violence. Either may be knocked unconscious and bound, however. If captured, the GM should roleplay out the encounter. Use Charisma based skill checks to determine if the players can break Vorkstag or Grine into confession. If they confess, they can tell the players every detail of their operation and if using the suggested additional plot material will mention that they do work for the Whispering Way and that the Whispering Way wanted the Seafarer's Bane.

If Vorkstag and Grine confess and are put in prison, they are found dead at the conclusion of this adventure with no clear explanation for how they died, except that their jaws and throats have been disintegrated, rendering them incapable of being contacted via Speak with Dead it is in fact revenge ennacted by the Whispering Way for them breaking their vow of silence. The trial works as a series of DC 19 Persuasion checks, one made for each piece of evidence the PC presents to the court along with a thoery on its meaning.

This roll is modified by the quality of the evidence. Advantage can be given if the player roleplays a particularly empassioned or compelling presentation of their argument. At trial's end, tally up the successful checks and see the appropriate section below. Today's goal for the players should be to cast doubt on the Beast's involvement in the murders at Morast, hinting that perhaps a third party is involved. Today the goal of the players should be to prove that something else killed the children at Hergstag.

Throughout this day, the crowd becomes more and more upset. A DC 15 insight check reveals this about the crowd. Today's trial is where the players should focus on how Vorkstag and Grine were the actual killers at Sanctuary and possibly at Morast. Keen Hearing and Smell.

The hound has advatage on wisdom perception checks that rely on hearing or sound. The hound regains 5 hitpoints at the start of its turn. If the hound takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the hound's next turn. The hound only dies if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.

Magic Resistance. The Hook Clawed Apparatus has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Rod, Uncomon This rod is cool to the touch. It holds a maximum of 12 charges. As an action, a charge can be spent and it can be pointed at one target, which begins to become chilled and covered with frost. If the object is a fire, the fire will be put out in a five foot area. For every additional charge spent another five feet will be put out.

If the object is a creature, they must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes ld6 cold damage. This damage can be increased by 1d6 for each additional charge spent, up to a maximum of 3d6. If ever the rod is reduced to 0 charges, roll a d On a roll of 1, the rod freezes over and loses its power forever.

Moving on the bridge requires a DC 13 Acrobatics check before movement is attempted to avoid falling off. Dashing causes the roll to be made at disadvantage. If the roll is failed, the player gets one chance to succeed at a DC 13 Dexterity save or else fall into the water feet below. Success puts them prone, back on the bridge, but their move action is ended. Halfway across the bridge summoning runes have been scribed into the wood of the bridge floor. Disarming the trap takes a DC 18 Arcana check to know the proper incantation to dispell it.

Failure causes it to activate. If a player is hit by the arrow attack, they must repeat their DC 13 Acrobatics save or be knocked off the bridge getting their DC 13 Dexterity save, as well.

Poison, Common This poison can be applied to a weapon as an action. The next target that takes damage from this weapon must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking an additional 13 3d8 poison damage on a failed save and be poisoned for one hour, or half as much damage on a successful one and not be poisoned.

Each vial contains enough for a single application. If applied to ammunition, it can be applied to three pieces of ammunition.

Once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying. Petrifying Bite. While poisoned, the creature is petrified. At the end of every round, the creature can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a successful roll.

Scream recharge The Medusa head lets out a bone-chilling scream forcing each living creature within 30 feet to make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of their next turn. Once the save is successfully made the creature is immune to the Medusa's scream for 24 hours.

Cold Lethargy. After being hit with an attack that deals cold damage, though it takes no damage, the Basidirond has disadvantage on all its attacks until the end of its next turn. The Basidirond can use its Hallucination Spores and then attack twice with spore slam. Spore Slam. Hallucination Spores recharge 6.

The Basidirond releases a cloud of invisible spores in a foot raidus. All humanoid and beast creatures within the area must suceed on a DC 14 Constitution save or be poisoned for 1 minute. While poisoned, the target falls to the ground and is incapacitated while it has powerful hallucinations. The creature can repeat the saving throw on itself at the end of each of its turns ending the effect on itself on a success. There are rules for suffocation presented on page of the PHB.

For my own games, I find that these rules work best for non-combat situations, for instance to see if someone can swim to the bottom of a lake, or traverse a gas-filled room while holding their breath. For scenes that are meant to be more tense I use the following house rule: once someone starts suffocating, they start making death saving throws at the beginning of each turn as per the rules on page of the PHB making these rolls does not prevent them from taking other actions on their turn.

If they fail three rolls, they die, having suffocated. They continue to make rolls every round until they either die or stop suffocating. Deciding when a player is or is not suffocating is up to the DM. For the Draugr trap above, I suggest that any player who is simultaneously grappled and underwater is considered to be suffocating, until they surface. Consumable Item, rare For one hour after drinking this potion, you project an illusion that makes you appear to be standing in a place near your actual location, causing any creature to have disadvantage on attack rolls against you.

If you take damage, the property ceases to function until the start of your next turn. Consumable Item, uncommon Pouring a vial of this blood, kept fresh and warm through a complex alchemical process, on someone who is petrified instantly cures the affliction. Using this item takes an action. Consumable Item, uncommon For eight hours after consumption, you are hidden from Divination magic.

You cannot be targeted by any Divination magic or perceived through magical Scrying sensors. Wand, Rare, requires attunement This wand, which is a dark red with a top that curls in on itself, carries 6 charges. As an action, its weilder can expend a charge to cast Charm Monster as per the spell XG on a single target. For each additional charge spent an additional creature can be targeted. The DC for the spell is The wand regains 1d6 charges at dawn every day.

If ever the Wand is brought down to 0 charges, roll a d On a roll of 1, the wand curls in itself completely and loses all magical properties. The Golem makes five attacks: one with its bite and four with its claws. Wand, rare This wand has 3 charges. As an action, you can expend a charge to cast the speak with dead spell PHB The wand regains 1d2 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d On a 1, the wand crumbles to dust and is destroyed.

The encounter with the Promethean is meant to be more of a story battle than a straight forward challenge. The Promethean is meant to fall to the attacks of the summoned Beast of Lepidstadt. If players take it on directly they are likely to perish. To this end, be careful how you run this encounter. Impress upon the players the power and danger of the Promethean through their arcane roll, its general horror, and through Caromarc himself. Consider having the beast remain hidden in the darkness of the ceiling until the players approach Caromarc's prison, at which point he will whisper to them, terrified: "It is here.

You cannot stop it. The description of the Promethean has been adjusted for this conversion. Read the following when the Promethean drops down from the ceiling:. The ceiling itself seems to shift above you and at first you think it is collapsing in on you. But then you realize it is not the ceiling which is falling, but a massive beast which was clinging to it with six long hairy legs. The creature lands in front of you, raising two large clawed apendages menacingly. You see no visible signs of a face, but a mound of dark red orbs which may pass for eyes lies nestled in the dark body.

The creature's underbelly is a mass of writhing tentacles dripping with digestive fluids: an open-air stomach. Somewhere deep within those tentacles the creature makes a gurgling sound, like a nightmarish chuckle, as it moves towards you. Once the Promethean is in combat with the players, they have several options. The module intends them to run away and to find another way up the tower, whether by magic or by climbing or, as a last resort, by opening the shutters that lead to the outside.

Just remember that someone will probably need to stay behind to close the shutters, or else the Promethean may climb onto the roof. If players insist on engaging in combat with the creature, give them a final warning by using description to demonstrate its power as it brushes off their attacks and smashes it way through the room towards them, chortling and growling the whole time.

Start with its web and moan attacks then have it claw any unaffected characters and place them in its tentacles. There's less damage dealt to the players that way, but it still should impress upon them how tough this thing is. Hold off on its multi-attack, instead having it use its claws on a single player to show how much it hits for. Let it get easily confused if the players want to hide or use distracting tactics to try and free a grappled friend. Only if the players actually seem to be intent on fighting it and are dealing decent damage should the Promethean unleash its full power, using both its claws to devastating effect.

When the players make it onto the roof, they should be given a moment to breath. The Promethean won't come after them if the shutter is closed, not until the Bondslave Thrall is started.

When it does, the Promethean will start banging on the shutters, clearly trying to smash through. This should be played for dramatic tension. Gauge the health of your players: if they are doing okay, let the Promethean break through and attack for a round or two before The Beast shows up. If they are badly hurt, then have the Promethean burst through and clamber up the tower after them just as the Beast arrives.

Once the Beast is on the scene, the Promethean will focus all of its attentions on him, using both its claws on him every turn and not transferring him to its tentacles. The Beast is by far the greatest threat here, and it will recognize this. As far as fighting The Beast, the two are fairly evenly matched.

The Promethean will hit more often but is at a disadvantage, as its attacks are not magical and thus do not pierce the Beast's resistances. The Beast has less of a chance of hitting, but gets more attacks per turn and can break through the Promethean's resistances. In addition, he has the help of any player who is controlling him based on their class:.

Immutable Form. The Promethean is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Lightning Absorption. Whenever the Promethean is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt. The Promethean has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. The Promethean make two claw attacks. The Promethean will not use this attack on a creature grappled by its tentacles see below.

Tentacle transfer As a bonus action on its turn, the Promethean can transfer any grappled creature to its tentacles, where they remain grappled escape DC Moan recharge The Promethean can emit an infrasonic moan as an action, causing all creatures within 30 feet of it to make a DC 16 Wisdom save or become frightened, repeating the save at the end of each of their turns and ending the effect on a successful save. If a creature fails any of these Wisdom rolls by 4 or more, they are also stunned until the end of their next turn.

Web recharge The Promethean sprays webbing at a point within 60 ft, filling a 10 foot cube. Any creature in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity save or be Restrained by the webbing.

Any creature who enters a webbed space must also make this saving throw or become Restrained. As an action, a Restrained target can make a DC 17 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success.

The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage. The Beast is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form. Whenever the Beast is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt. The Beast has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. Magic Weapons. The Beast's weapon attacks are magical.

The Beast makes three slam attacks and can use Grip Shock once. Grip Shock. If the Beast has a target grappled, he can activate his Gloves of Storm Fists to deal 7 2d6 Lightning Damage to the target.

Double Crossbow. Note that the people of Lepidstadt were unable to remove his gloves and too scared to take his other items, so he still wears them during the trial. Weapon, Very Rare, requires attunement Gloves such as these are constructed by skilled alchemists. They have knobs and dials on them which the users are specifically instructed not to touch. There are straps all over it which can be used to ajdust them to fit any creature larger than tiny and smaller than huge.

In combat the Gloves channel magical energy, making any melee weapon wielded with them and all unarmed hits magical. Also, once a turn, you can force a target struck by the gloves or a weapon they carry to make a DC 15 Constitution save or take 10 3d6 thunder damage. If the user has a target grappled, they can use a bonus action on their turn to deal 7 2d6 Lightning damage to the target.

New player characters can be added to the story at any point during the trial by being investigators of some related crime. Maybe they are hunting Brother Swarm or have a lead on some missing persons case that they have traced back to Vorkstag and Grine. They will be contacted by Judge Daramid and asked to bring what they have discovered to the trial. These re-entry hooks work just as well for total party kills.

You can also have them come in after the trial, just in time to hear of The Beast's fate and they can be hired by Embreth Daramid to track it back to Schloss Caromarc.

Or they can start the game at Schloss Caromarc, having been hired by the local magistrate to investigate the odd going ons at the castle The hardest place to introduce new characters is mid-way through Schloss Caromarc. But it is possible that they find a new player character locked away inside the Schloss. This player could be a bodyguard to Caromarc, locked away by the Whispering Way, or even a candidate for one of the count's questionable experiments.

They could also be a victim of the Whispering Way, the Whisperers having put them here in this death trap castle as a cruel method of killing them. I recommend that if the players get a total party kill inside of Schloss Caromarc, consider the adventure a failure and move on to Blood Moon.

In this case, Caromarc starves to death inside the Misery Idol and the poor Beast wanders the countryside, never able to find acceptance amongst anyone, staying The Beast of legend. Perhaps he even loses his mind and becomes truly beastial. In this case, future parties may be tasked to hunt him down and end his threat forever. This section converts relevant sections of the city of Lepdistadt.

For descriptions of NPCs, places, and the history of the town, see the module itself. The players won't have a lot of time to explore Lepidstadt due to the fast pace of the trial. Most explorations will be related to the trial and investigating clues. The only other thing players are likely to ask about is shopping in Lepidstadt and they should be able to find some time to do this.

Lepidstadt has the distinction, because of its universtiy, of attracting exotic items for sale and it is possible to find a plethora of interesting items here. Mundane items are easy to come by, just use the item prices as listed in the equipment chapter of the PHB. For Magic Items, the following rules apply:.

When rolling for encounters, roll a d On a roll of 17 or higher, an encounter occurs. For this module, roll once during every journey from one location to another ie.

Lepidstadt to Schloss Caromarc. Page 83 of the original module lists two tables for random encounters. These have been converted to the tables below:. Use the description and percentages in the module to discern the nature of the border guards. Use the description and percentages in the module to discern the nature of the Varisian Wanderers.

If there is a fortune teller among the wanderers, you can roleplay out this encounter and give the players some bit of clue or information related to their next destination. The Trial of the Beast 2. Revision History: 1. The Trial of the Beast This adventure is designed for three to four characters starting at level 4 , and it places them in the uncertain position of being criminal investigators and defense lawyers for a hideous beast that has plagued the countryside for years.

General Changes Advancement Track Players begin the Trial of the Beast at 4th level and should be 7th level by its conclusion. Gain a level: After the trial is concluded, no matter the outcome.

Gain a level: After reaching the Drowned Menagerie. Three Separate Plotlines The hardest thing about running Trial of the Beast is that it invovles three seperate plot lines and the only thing they share in common is the Beast. These three plotlines are as follows: Count Caromarc's wife contracted a horrible disease so he placed her in suspended animation and became obsessed with the study of life and death.

So Much Gold! Deductions Another problem some DMs have run into are players who don't pick up what the evidence they gather means. The module doesn't give a lot of advice on how players are supposed to make correct deductions about evidence but I reccommend using the following techniques that my GM used when I played this back in my Pathfinder days: At each crime scene, if the players find a clue, explicitly tell them they have found a clue clues will be listed in the relevant sections of this conversion, along with the check required to find them.

Journey to Lepidstadt If players did not successfully complete Haunting of Harrowstone , then they can have been called to Lepidstadt by their old ally, Judge Daramid, who says she has a task for them that requires speed and discretion. Details about Lepidstadt can be gained as described in the module with a DC 10 History check. Passing the check by 5 or more reveals the more detailed information.

If you desire to have your players have a random encounter before finding the Kin, assume they have an encounter and use the Canterwall table at the end of this guide.

Aleece's Fate DC 10 Survival check to track the girl into the swamp. The swamp itself is difficult terrain. DC 15 Survival check to follow the tracks into the actual bog and another DC 15 Survival check to discover the body. The Feaster is a Phase Spider MM with 40 hitpoints and with the curious ability to mimic human cries.

It will use this ability before combat to try and split the group up. Everyone will hear the pleading cries for help but they will sound to everyone like it is coming from a different direction. Percpetion checks won't help the confusion the Feaster is Jaunting around the bog to mask her wherebouts but a DC 15 Perception check reveals the cries are weirdly inhuman.

If the players split up, the Feaster will launch an attack on the smallest group. Otherwise, she will attack the weakest looking member of the group. Unless the players are specifically on guard they will be surprised as she charges 30ft from the thickest reeds. After attacking, she will Etheral Jaunt to pull back from any counterattack.

She will flee if reduced to 7 or less hit points. Returning to the swamp to follow her escape and hunt her down later could make for an interesting side adventure. The treasures in the bog can be found with a DC 15 Perception check by someone who is searching the bog for victims or treasure: Potion of Fox's Cunning see the enhance ability spell , and a number of art objects as described in the module The dagger Kaleb promised is a Dagger of Shapechanger's Bane.

It does an additional 2d6 damage to shapechangers. Otherwise, it uses regular dagger stats. It counts as an uncommon item. Crowl's whereabouts and his relationship to the trial. DC 13 Insight checks made on Embreth show that she is trying to hide how upset she is at Lorrimor's death.

When Emreth hires the players on as investigators it is a great time for her to raise her suspicions of The Whispering Way being involved somehow in events in Lepidstadt. She can't say much, lest she reveal secrets belonging to the Order of the Palatine Eye, but she will tell the players she thinks The Beast's sudden capture is connected somehow. She will also tell them to keep their ears open for the name Auren Vrood. She knows little about him, except that he is an agent of the Whispering Way and his name has been heard around Lepidstadt.

The Beast DMs seeking to tie things together more clearly can have players notice a curious mark on the Beast's right shoulder, a stylized "C. No one will recognize the brand, but it will come into play later to tie his creations together. The Beast on Trial Timing and Investigations The players will be doing quite a lot of travelling in a short time in order to investigate their crime scenes each evening before presenting at the trial the next morning.

Some general guidelines for handling this: It is recommended you do not roll for random encounters while traveling. These investigations are the encounters. Day One of The Trial The party returns to the courthouse the morning after the Morast investigation, arriving around 9am. A significant crowd began gathering around the Punishing Man at dawn, and a carnival atmosphere engulfs the courthouse.

The party observes who can only be Inquisitor Czevak overseeing preparations around the Punishing Man and, generally, making himself prominent with the crowd gathered. The clerks arrive early to prepare the courtroom, while other members of the court arrive as the time approaches a.

The three justices arrive in black coaches with several guards in attendance. The Trial of the Beast begins promptly at 10 am. A trio of guards lead the Beast into the court and shackles it to the large iron chair in a cage in the center of the courtroom to the jeers of the crowd.

Chief Justice Ambrose Khard commences proceedings by laying out the rules of the court in a lengthy speech, interspersed with gongstrikes by the Herald. Prosecutor Otto Heiger outlines his case in an opening statement, alleging that the Beast is responsible for the murder of 10 people in the village of Morast a year ago, in addition to two other horrendous crimes that will be described as the trial continues.

Starting around a. He brings three locals from Morast, two young women and a man, to the stand. The trio describes events as they saw them happen—that over a series of nights, the Beast came to the village and took people away; that a trap was finally laid for the Beast; that the Beast was driven into the swamp, and, they assumed, killed.

Otto then calls the village elder, Lazne, who led the mob that drove the Beast off. He confirms the events related by the other three villagers. In the only effective moment of cross-examination, Kaple reveals the face found at the boneyard and a shocked Lazne identifies it as Nan Klebem, a poacher not seen since the events of a year ago.

Munafiq less convincingly argues based on the fact that the Beast has no need for an extract of darkvision, because it is not common knowledge that flesh golems have darkvision. Munafiq is also significantly impeached during cross-examination, because he cannot adequately explain his interest in defending the Beast and because he admits an association with the Crooked Kin and a cleric of Calistria which prompts some sniggers from the gallery. At the end of the first day of trial, the party gets sneering looks from Inquisitor Czevak, loud rude jeers from the assembled crowd, and a grateful glance from The Beast himself.

You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email.