[D&D] The Sunless Citadel, Part 1

I needed a one-shot adventure for 4 people of different ages. This worked.

About eight months ago, before I took my current job, I had a nice job. It was cognitively demanding but once you passed that barrier, not particularly difficult, and most importantly had regular hours. Under those circumstances - around the time I made this substack - I had time to DM a few sessions of D&D for friends and family. This was one of them. I’m a bit of a workaholic and tend to forget about personal stuff, so eight months from idea to post is pretty normal.

It’s based on the classic Third Edition starter adventure, which is well-known enough to have its own wikipedia page. In a nutshell, some asshole put an entire castle underground close to an impoverished village - and on the only road out - and now it’s inhabited by a ruthless psycho and you have to prod your group to (i) go there; and (ii) make their way from the top of the sunken castle to the bottom, fighting monsters and having interesting encounters on the way. As a premise, it is reassuringly simple and relatively immune to the usual fail states of a campaign:

• Maybe we can persuade the end boss to have a cup of tea instead?

• Screw this, I’m staying in the village, there will be cool stuff here later.

• We should actually go there!

There’s a whole set of plot hooks around evil plants but it was too complex for my group so I dumped it and the monsters. Nothing of value was lost.

Characters to prepare (first couple of sessions)

• McGuffin MD - NPC or NPCs who get(s) the party to the site

• Cowardly Kobold. He’s obsessed with a white dragon hatchling that he kept as a pet. She has now escaped and his social status is zero until he recovers her.

• Kobold leader. Wise but hostile.

• White Dragon hatchling. She’s out and she’s pissed. Her goals: kill the Cowardly Kobold. Maul the party. Escape.

Dramatis Personae

• Terentias, the Ranger (Lloyd, 11, brother to George, son to the DM)

• Ahalamaya, the Paladin (George, 13, brother to Lloyd, son to the DM)

• Kossoth Re, the Cleric (Katara, 13, son to Doug)

• Bugreck, the Wizard (Doug, Fortysomething, father to Katara)

Starting the Adventure

No rogue! Or alternatively, you’d be surprised how many parties limit their story-telling potential by blindly including someone who can scout ahead and open chests.

I opened with a railroad that the China State Railway Group would have been proud of: you are heading out of town because you agreed to investigate why the mayor’s (adult) kids disappeared. On the way, you discover that they were idiots who never faced a day of adversity in their life and badly needed a wake-up call they were taken to a local haunt of evil called the ‘Sunless Citadel’, allegedly built by giants. Shortly afterwards, you reach the entrance to the citadel - a hole in the ground, with a rope hanging down from where you are.

Ahalamaya: I scout around

Terentias: I’m going down!

Kossoth Re: I gather herbs I guess

Bugreck: Should we perhaps throw a torch down?

So herbs are gathered. A torch is thrown down, revealing what looks like the upper battlements of a castle, empty and cold. The ranger flings himself into danger while the paladin follows cautiously behind. Eventually the whole party is standing on top of the fort.

They make their way down the stairs when - surprise! - three rats attack. Terentias - who has unaccountably run ahead of the group - dispatches one. The others dispatch the last two rats before the - ranged specialised - ranger can do much more. Eventually, the party makes its way down to a ruined hall. There is a long hall with an interesting dragon mouth puzzle, which after realising they can’t shift they ignore. There are a couple of rooms full of undead which they slog through. Eventually, they prepare to go the right (per DM fiat) way - deeper into the citadel.

There, things start to happen.