Modifying the Adventure

This adventure was with a party of 4 level 1 characters in mind. However keep in mind that as it was for competitive D&D it's meant to be tough, so feel free to nerf mosnters or DCs to better suit your party. Also keep in mind that XP is calculated as to give each player exactly enough XP to go from level 1 to 2, so that's something you might want to figure out. We also wanted to make each dungeon plausible in it's own world, so each dungeon comes with a background you might want to alter to fit your campaign setting. There is also a follow up adventure for level three characters so you might wanna keep that in mind when running this.

Background

Gurutz "Black Hand" was always a loyal follower of his master, Surtur. Killing, raiding and scheming so that he could obtain more power in order to help his master. It was one cold night, that he received a premonition as he contemplated the flames emerging from his campfire... he could see the church to the false Christian god built upon the valley, he could see how under it there was a door, guarded by half blooded giants, and behind it the place where his master guided him.

He had been chosen by his God to cremate the false church and embark on a holy mission. Everything would be consumed by the flames for him to achieve his goals. That is how he amassed a following and acquired an Ankheg from the far-awat South, so that he could destroy the unfaithful and make way to the entrance of the temple to his master.

No one could stop him!

Adventure Summary

A group of followers of Surtur, god of the Fire giants, attacked a Christian church located in a clearing far from the nearest town.

The leader of the acolytes, Gurutz, discovered in his investigations that the entrance of a temple to his God was buried somewhere in the area. In order to find it, he brought over his pet, Felthgran: an Ankheg of considerable size, that could make way to the buried ruins.

Main Objective: Defeat the Goliath.

Secondary Objective: Defeat the flying swords, releasing the three Goliath slaves from the enchantment made upon them.

Portal Inscription: Grant free will to those with wills of stone.

The Church

The PCs emerge from the portal in front of the church (area A1). The day is could with light rain.

A1. Outside the Church

The great structure made of stone and wood that stands in front of you appears to be some sort of ecclesiastical construction, with a two water roof over which the rain pours, before falling to the short grass on the ground. Two wooden statues in the shape of a woman guard a wooden gate in the shape of an arch, resting atop small stone stairs. The door is wide open, and to the south you can see a walkway leading straight to the cementery.

The church was built upon a stone foundation and walls. In contrast, the roof appears to be made out of wood. The church has tall windows with no glass and wooden doors, which appear to be shut.

With a passive perception of 12, you can notice that the statue on the left (which is based on the Virgin Mary) is crying blood. The truth is that the brutality of Gurutz subordinates left it drenched in the blood of one of the church's guards. The rain has washed a big part of it.

A passive perception of 14 allows you to also notice traces of blood up the stairs.

If players opt to make perception checks, use these numbers as DCs to give them information.

A2. Entrance to the church

The interior hall smells of blood. Only illuminated by two torches hung on the walls, you can see two bodies of leather armor, murdered and decapitated. Their heads, looking towards the newcomers on the torsos of their own corpses, sail in their own blood to the afterlife.

The bodies belong to the guards mentioned in A1. In the entrance wall, you can see a cross hung in the wall (with Jesus crucified on it).

Both to left and right, you can see two double wooden doors. The one on the left has one of it's wings open. The one on the right is closed shut.

If the players enter this area stealthily, Gurutz and his followers won't notice them (no stealth check required). However if they enter this area without taking any precautions, they will be heard by the enemies in the next room, who'll ready for combat.

The corpses in this area don't have any treasure, as they have already been looted by Gurutz and his followers.

A3. Chapel

Gurutz and his henchmen are in this room. The soldiers are waiting for their pastors to finish their ritual before preparing everything to set the Church on fire.

Gurutz and his apprentice are in the upper area of the room (A3.1) as long as the PCs do not disclose their incursion into the area.

In the entrance, there is a vase with water, which is used to by the congregation to wash up before mass.

Players can notice that the chandelier is held in place by a rope, tied in the zone marked *. If it's cut or untied with a DC 10 Dexterity (Sleight of hand), the chandelier will fall, imposing a DC 13 Dexterity Saving Throw. Whoever is under the chandelier takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage, or half as much on a successful save. Additionally any creature that suffers damage from this also gets knocked prone. If someone wishes to shoot the rope, they can do it against a 15 AC.

Gurutz

If Gurutz and his henchmen are defeated, there is a silver jar and a golden cup (worth 25 gp each) to be found atop the altar. Additionally the jar contains enough holy water to fill 2 vials.

B1. Entrance to the Tunnels

The magic items that are mentioned in this adventure are all detailed here in alphabetical order.

This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 15 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.

If the bag is overloaded, pierced, or torn, it ruptures and is destroyed, and its contents are scattered in the Astral Plane. If the bag is turned inside out, its contents spill forth, unharmed, but the bag must be put right before it can be used again. Breathing creatures inside the bag can survive up to a number of minutes equal to 10 divided by the number of creatures (minimum 1 minute), after which time they begin to suffocate.

Placing a bag of holding inside an extradimensional space created by a handy haversack, portable hole, or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane. The gate originates where the one item was placed inside the other. Any creature within 10 feet of the gate is sucked through it to a random location on the Astral Plane. The gate then closes. The gate is one-way only and can't be reopened.

This small sphere of thick glass weighs one pound. If you are within 60 feet of it, you can speak it's command word and cause it to emanate the light or daylight spell. Once used, the daylight effect can't be used again until the next dawn.

You can speak another command word as an action to make the illuminated globe rise into the air and float no more than 5 feet off the ground. The globe hovers in this way until you or another creature grasps it. If you move more than 60 feet from the hovering globe, it follows you until it is within 60 feet of you. It takes the shortest route to do so. If prevented from moving, the globe sinks gently to the ground and becomes inactive, and it's light winks out.

This gem contains a mote of elemental energy. When you use an action to break the gem, an elemental is summoned as if you had cast the conjure elemental spell, and the gem's magic is lost. The type of gem determines the elemental summoned by the spell.

This flat iron rod has a button on one end. You can use an action to press the button, which causes the rod to become magically fixed in place. Until you or another creature uses an action to push the button again, the rod doesn't move, even it it is defying gravity. The rod can hold up to 8,000 pounds of weight. More weight causes the rod to deactivate and fall. A creature can use an action to make a DC 30 Strength, moving the fixed rod up yo 10 feet on a success.

This glass jar, 3 inches in diameters, contains 1d4 + 1 doses of a mixture that smells faintly of aloe. The jar and it's contents weigh 1/2 pound. As an action, one dose of the ointment can be swallowed or applied to the skin. The creature that receives it gains 2d8 + 2 hit points, ceases to be poisoned, and is cured of any disease.

Mithral is a light, flexible metal. A mithral chain shirt or breastplate can be worn under normal clothes. If the armor normally imposes disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks or has a Strength requirement, the mithral version of the armor doesn't.

When you drink this potion, your Strength score changes for 1 hour. The type of giant determines the score (see the table below). The potion has no effect on you if your Strength is equal to or greater than that score. This potion's transparent liquid has floating in it a silver or fingernail from a giant of the appropriate type. The potion of frost giant strength and the potion of stone giant strength have the same effect.

You regain hit points when you drink this potion. The number of hit points depends on the potion's rarity, as shown in the Potions of Healing table. Whatever it's potency, the potion's red liquid glimmers when agitated.

Spell Scroll

A Wizard spell on a spell scroll can be copied just as Spells in spellbooks can be copied. When a spell is copied from a spell scroll, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell’s level. If the check succeeds, the spell is successfully copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell scroll is destroyed.

This appendix details creatures and nonplayer characters that are mentioned in this adventure. The creatures are presented in alphabetical order.