The Wizard's Mansion (3.5e Quest)
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The Wizard's Mansion
Intended for four level 3-5 adventurers.
The town's wizard has gone into hiding. After the players get to the wizard, it turns out that he has encountered some problems that require the player's assistance, or his mansion will be further overrun! Can the players help the wizard from being killed and his mansion from being overrun?
- Prep Time 1 ½+ hrs
- Play Time 2 ½+ hrs
Quest Introduction
This quest starts as a dungeon crawl, but after that the DM can choose about any play style they want. The mood can vary from being serious to being rather lighthearted.
History
A small town known for having a wizard of great power living nearby is having some problems. There have been some lizardfolk bandits attacking travelers and farmers. The wizard has also not been seen recently, so the PCs are sent to check up on the wizard. Following the river, the PCs find a cave system which is the lair of the lizardfolk. After killing off the entire tribe and looting the treasure, they find a magic door carved into a stone wall. The PCs enter and the door closes behind them, trapping them inside. They traverse a small part of the wizards abode, finding treasure and suffering some mishaps (see stage one)along the way. They find the wizard, who requests their help in achieving a goal he cannot accomplish himself. He may give some treasure, but he eventually teleports the PCs off to another place to find something for the wizard. This may happen a few times, but eventually the final fight will be in the heart of the wizards abode.
Hook
The hooks are up to the DM, though if you have a bunch of fun-loving and forgiving players, you may throw in several minor curses that must be afflicted upon the PCs in order for them to make progress. The intended purpose of this quest was originally to have fun with curses and see how the players use them to their advantage.
Background
Essentially, the PCs accept to search for the wizard, they find the cave which leads to the wizards home, they slay several monsters in the cave, they loot and heal up, and then find the door to the wizard's home. The PCs enter the wizard's home (think "Howl's Moving Castle" except much bigger), search a small section of the mansion, find the wizard, and then are tasked with stopping an extremely powerful demon or similar entity from escaping the depths of the mansion, with a large reward should they be successful. The PCs are sent off to various parts of the world collecting ancient relics and/or the aid of other deities. Once done teleporting around the world, the PCs enter the sealed off section of the wizard's mansion and proceed to slay monsters to reach the final boss. The final fight ensues, the PCs (hopefully) win, and then receive their reward.
Insert non-formatted text here==== NPCs ====
The DM should make NPCs to fit the world that they are using. Essential NPCs are below. -The Wizard, preferably level 30 wizard for story reasons. -The mayor, they give the starting quest
Items
The DM should design items fitted to each of the Players' characters. If no one can use heavy armor effectively, then full plate armor should not be an item the players should seek or receive. However, the PCs may find treasure rooms early on in the wizard's mansion. The DM may insert items with curses that do not affect game play very much. However, someone growing animal ears and a tail may cause some interesting situations or interactions. Remember, this quest was designed to include minor curses as part of the story.
Stage One: Finding the Wizard
The PCs are in a small town and are requested to see the mayor in his office. The mayor tells the PCs that the wizard has not been seen recently, and that there have been reports of lizardfolk bandits attacking travelers. The players are offered a decent reward of money, and should the DM deem necessary, are given the aid of a paladin and cleric from the church. The PCs should gather any necessary supplies now as they may not be able to return to town once they leave. The PCs are told that the wizard usually came down by boat from the river. The PCs follow the river and reach a natural stone wall. the water is too swift to swim up and through the hole from which it comes from, so the PCs must find a nearby cave entrance. Once found, the PCs will go through a cave system and eventually reach the bandit camp. To separate the Bandit leader from the other lizardfolk, he may be on a mount or have better equipment. Once the fight is over, the PCs will find the bandit's treasure stash further on. If the NPC paladin and/or cleric is there, the PCs may not be able to loot as much as they would like. The NPCs will tell the PCs to go on and find the wizard while they go to town and get the townsfolk to go and retrieve their lost loot. The PCs will the continue until they find a door engraved into a stone wall. The door is magic and requires either a password or a hidden switch to open it. Once in, the door closes behind the PCs. The PCs then begin to investigate the fancy, if dusty, mansion. Their may be many doors, but the PCs should be only able to go relatively in the direction of the wizard's location. The mansion is a dungeon the players will explore more later on. There may be a few traps and optional rooms. Should there be a treasure room, and if the players are forgiving, there should be a few items that have minor curses. Eventually, players reach the wizard and are given a task and offered a significant reward.
Stage Two: Around the World
The wizard may give a few (maybe cursed) items to the PCs. The wizard then sends the PCs of to a location, via portal, in order to retrieve something. This part is entirely up to the DM, however, the PCs should never be teleported directly into or nearby the area where their target is. There should be a town nearby and a dungeon in which the goal resides. This is the part where the players may have to put those curses of theirs to use. Example: In order for the party to reach the grove where they can contact the druids' deity, they have to have one of the druids high up in the council to lead them there. Unfortunately, the council will not take outsiders (even other druids) into the grove. However, there is a recently promoted member of the council who is rather young and has a strange taste for woman/men. The poor PC who is cursed with animal ears and tail is the target of the druid's affections. The cursed PC must convince the druid to take them to the grove so that the rest of the party can secretly follow them.
Stage Three: Back to the Mansion
Once the PCs are done in the segment of the world they are at, they must find a way back to the mansion (probably just use the same portal from earlier). Once back, The wizard will have unsealed a segment of his mansion, and the PCs must go there to either retrieve something or find a portal. Add rooms with cursed treasure at will. Once done, the PCs may heal up and restock, as well as store the loot they don't need at the moment. Once done, repeat stage-two until the DM decides to move on to stage-four.
Stage Four: Ending
The PCs are ready to take on the evil entity deep inside the mansion's depths. The PCs travel to the final chamber, fighting monsters as they go. Once in the final room (make sure the room is big enough for the entity to maneuver in, but small enough for the PCs to fight properly), the entity breaks free and begins attacking the PCs. The wizard should not be able to participate in the fight, as he would make the PCs job too easy. Instead, give him an excuse to be unable to join in the fight. The PCs should, with their special equipment gained through stage-two, defeat the entity and then either kill it or seal it away again. Have the wizard give the PCs their reward and add anything you desire.
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