GM-SS One Shot: Bound in Chains

The sixth downloadable GM-SS Dungeons and Dragons One Shot Adventure

Whether it’s for a one-shot adventure, starting a longer story, or just another day in your players’ lives, we hope this adventure module will inspire all you DMs and GMs out there. This time we’ll show you how to run a prison break adventure, provide you with several encounter maps and help you run a one-shot, that will (hopefully) increase your player’s teamwork.

Overview

RPG: D&D 5e
Number of players: 3 to 5 players
Recommended level: level 6 – 8
Duration: long (5-8 hours)
Difficulty: medium
For your campaign: This campaign relies a lot on Gods and believe-systems. The adventure is written intentionally vague in that regard, so that GMs can fill in the blanks with the pantheon of their own campaign. The trials of Catena Rock are geared towards the classes found in D&D 5e but could be adapted to be used in other RPGs with slight adjustment.
This Adventure Module contains:
- The story for a single adventure
- A map for a prison / monastery
- Several prison break story ideas
- Five encounter maps for class-specific trials
- Inspiration for a team-building encounter

The Story

Big cities and organized crime usually go hand in hand. Yet, the holy city of Kalke seems to harbour no unsavoury elements whatsoever. The streets are both clean and safe. There are no black-markets, no gambling houses, and no brothels. The devout citizens of Kalke attribute their peace to the wise leadership of their Gods’ representative on Earth: Praetor Benin of Catena. It is said, that through his wise leadership, no evil shall ever be able to put down roots into Kalke. Any sinner caught within the city’s walls will be purified in the temple of Catena Rock and emerge as a God-fearing citizen. However, tales and legends do not always reflect the entire truth. In reality, Praetor Benin rules his city of chains through religious fear-mongering and propaganda. The famous Catena Rock may look like a temple, but it functions much like prison. Within its halls, dissenters either get worked to death or “encouraged” to swear their loyalty the theocracy of Kalke. Rumor also has it, that an ancient God is bound to an altar under Catena Rock, devouring the souls of the sinners trapped within.

In this 5-8-hour campaign, a party of 6^th to 8^th level characters will be thrown into Catena Rock. Chained together and under the mercy of the insane head-warden Ava, they’ll either escape or spend the rest of their lives in servitude to the theocracy of Kalke. Will the party be able to find a way out? Is there any truth to the weird rumour of a God sleeping under Catena Rock? It is up to the players to find out. Otherwise, they will forever remain “Bound in Chains”.

Notes for the GM / DM

This one-shot is (ironically) best run as part of a campaign. If the GM manages to put the players on trial for a bad deed they actually committed (which shouldn’t be too hard with most players), the adventure will be all the more satisfying.
If the GM’s world already has an established pantheon, it’s rules and Gods can be used to give the one shot more context.
The battle encounters in this one-shot are best run with a grid map and physical miniatures. A lot of their challenge comes from the players being chained together throughout their trial. Therefore, it helps to chain the miniatures together as well to visiualize the challenge.