“Liches get Stitches”
Difficulty: This adventure is for 4 to 6 level 8 players.
Run Time: 3 to 6 hours, best for 2 separate sessions.
Summary
A fallen paladin that with an army of undead is advancing on the capital city. He can be stopped, if the party can fulfill his oath that he swore in life that he can never fulfill in death.
Setup: Undead Swarms
Enemy: Skeleton(MM272 50xp), Minotaur Skeleton(MM273 450x)
Screams of villagers and the sounds of guards shouting is followed by crowds of people running northwards. Behind them hoards of skeletons swarm into the town from the south. If the PCs stay to fight, fill the entire battlefield with skeletons rushing in from the southern edge of the battlefield at a full dash of 60ft per round. Move all the skeletons on initiative 12 If a skeleton starts it's turn next to a PC then it attacks them with a push attack to knock them prone and then moves forward 30ft otherwise the skeletons simply rush forward 60ft. A prone PC is trampled by skeletons, taking 1 point of damage and reducing the speed of the skeleton by 5ft. A PC who has been trampled must make an athletics or acrobatics check DC10 to stand up in the horde. After the first round, have 6 minotaur skeletons enter the battlefield. These begin by attempting to charge the PCs and will fight them with their greataxe. The smaller skeletons continue to flood the battlefield around them. The large minotaur skeletons can move around the battlefield easily, but have them crush a 1d4 skeletons when they use their movement. (If you want to speed up the battle with this large number of enemies, assume that the skeletons only hit 10% of the time. A player surrounded by 8 skeletons attacking them is probably going to be hit at least once 57% of the time, so if you roll a D20 and subtract 12, you'll get the number of hits by the skeletons on a surrounded player. 13=1, 20=8 etc.) Have NPCs swept along by the horde, some being trampled underfoot, and other screaming and still alive being carried or dragged by the skeletons. Have supports of buildings knocked loose and possibly have part of a building collapse from the impact of the skeletons rushing through the streets. The skeletons break windows and swarm into buildings. At the beginning of initiative 12 have skeletons continue to flood into the battle area filling all available space. Refresh these skeletons continually, and also refresh the minotaur skeletons after they die. These enemies are infinite, and continue to swarm over the town no matter how many the PCs kill. If your players seem to have trouble understanding how to handle this, a wizard named Bartholomew Amblecrown (Mage MM347) can arrive using his fly spell to tell them that the undead are swarming out of a portal south of town. You can also offer 10k gp for their help they need encouragement.
Investigation: Portal to Hell?
Your PCs shoud have no problem avoiding the swarms of skeletons by flying at level 8, and the skeletons don't use their ranged attacks. If necessary, Bart can cast fly on himself and two PCs, or can cast fly on three PCs and have a flying broom for himself (Which he won't sell to them.) He will accompany the party with a persuasion roll of DC25, but otherwise says he has other more pressing matters to attend to.
Counter Attack: Belmont's Vengeance
Enemies: Sword Wraith Commander (MToF241)
South of the city there is a giant purple portal out of which an endless swarm of skeletons are pouring into the material plane. The portal is 20ft above the ground, with Belmont standing on an ethereal chunk of ground in front of the portal as the slightly ethereal army of undead pour out of it. Belmont Van Oberhelm was the general of an ancient and forgotten army that was defeated in a war long ago. Since his death he has been obsessed with victory. He has finally managed to orchestrate his return to the world of the living with an army of all the fallen warriors that have died on the battlefield as members of a losing army. He and his warriors are hell bent on fighting an winning their wars that have long since been lost and forgotten to history. He attacks the PCs with his longbow. If he takes damage, he uses call to honor for his next action and uses martial fury on the PC that damaged him if they are in range. When he uses call to honor, don't roll 1d4+1 for the number of wraiths. Instead simply have him summon a number of wraiths equal to the number of PCs in the party, maximum 5. He takes his position in front of the portal as skeletons stream out of the portal around him. The skeletons are still partially ethereal as they come out of the portal so they don't attack the PCs, but they make the area difficult terrain for the PCs on the ground and in the air 30ft or lower. If Bart the Mage has joined them, he has 1 slot of each level 1-5 available, and is probably concentrating on fly. Once Belmont is killed, or if the Portal Dispelled with a dispel magic spell and a DC19 spellcasting ability check, the portal violently implodes, sucking the party and Bart into it.
Climax: Dragged to Hell
Enemies: Divolg Illistyn(Deathlock Mastermind MToF129), Deathlock Wight(MToF129), Wight(MM300), 2x Hell Hound(MM182)
Even if Bart didn't join the party before, he is present for this battle. If he has used all of his spell slots then you can have him pull out some scrolls to cast more if the party needs some extra help. Divold Illisyn, the Deathlock, is Belmont's advisor and has been manipulating Belmont and is the one who opened the portal. He is joined by his apprentice, the Deathlock Wight, his bodyguard, a Wight, and his two pets, the Hell Hounds. Seeing his portal destroyed, he and his minions attack the PCs. He is arrogant and monologues on his turn, telling the party the following information each round of combat: 1) They are trapped in hell with no way to return. 2) Belmont was a fool who he used to raise his army. 3) He's going to kill Belmont and take over after the war. 4)Everything he told Belmont was a lie. The war is over. Belmont, still not actually dead yet, was pulled through the portal in the implosion and rises from under some rubble after Divolg has said this information. He attacks Divolg and helps kill Divolg, but use the Sword Wraith Warrior stat block now instead because he is weakened by his recent defeat.
Wrap-Up: No way home?
If they don't have magic to escape, if you want you can leave the party stranded in Hell for another adventure, or Bart can have a scroll of plane-shift to get them out.
Treasure: 10,000gp and Roll twice on Treasure Hoard: Challenge 5-9 table on DMG p.137
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