“The Fall of an Empire”
The Fall of an Empire
Difficulty: This adventure is for 4 to 6 level 4 players
Run Time: 1 to 2 hours
Summary:
The party is in a large city when insurgents blow up a building. The party chases them down and interrogate them. They learn that the leader has a meeting with some mercenaries in the swamp out of town. In the swamp they are ambushed by ogres and learn that the Emperor is going to be assassinated. They rush to save the emperor, but are too late and can only avenge his death by killing the leader of the rebels.
Setup: Rebellion!
Location: Capital City Streets
Enemies: Cult Fanatic(MM345), Belor Amastacia(Warlock of the Archfey VGtM219)
XP Reward: 1100 for catching Belor, 450 per cult fanatic
When in the capital city streets, 5 hooded figures (4 cult fanatics and Belor Amastacia) run past the party right before an explosion destroys a nearby building. The players make a dex save DC15 and are knocked prone on a failure. A guard yells to "Stop those terrorists." Start a chase sequence. The 5 enemies start 3 turns ahead of the party. At the start of the round roll 4d6+1 to determine the obstacle DC. On each player's turn they must make an athletics or acrobatics check against the obstacle DC. A success moves them closer to the enemy. A failure means that they fall behind. The 5 enemies will split up during the chase, forcing the party to decide which one to follow. If a player catches an enemy, that enemy stops running and fights. A captured enemy reveals the name of the Rebel Leader: Thatham the Half Elf Goliath. A killed enemy has a parchment with instructions for where to place the explosives, signed by the name of the Rebel Leader.
Investigation: Find the Rebels.
Targ Belloc the half-orc captain of the guard says that the explosion was from an entire barrel of gunpowder hidden on a cart. (Archer VGtM210)
Kamien Crow the tiefling townsguard saw the suspicious figures before the explosion. They came out of the Blind Badger Inn. (Guard MM347)
Tevanga Palmer the Half Orc runs the Blind Badger Inn. She says the group came in last night covered in so much swamp mud that she's still cleaning. (Thug MM350)
Dolmen Strakeln the dwarf blacksmith is missing two whole barrels of gunpowder that have been stolen.(The Rebels stole it in the night.) (Berserker MM344)
Kristryd Gorunn the dwarf bartender, served the men drinks this morning and heard them talking about a meeting between Thatham and some mercenaries tonight. (Commoner MM345)
Bret Barrister the human clerk, is the palace official who will talk with they party if they try to make contact with
any authority. He tells them that Thatham is the emperor's disowned bastard son.(Noble MM348)
Fayal Spellscale the dragonborn fortune teller has had a premonition that the emperor is in grave danger if Thatham is not stopped tonight. (Mage MM347) Fayal will join the adventurers on a successful DC20 persuasion roll.
Counter Attack: Ambush!
Enemies: Runt(Ogre MM237), 6x Half-Ogre(MM238)
XP Reward: 1650xp (Divided among all PCs)
If the party investigates the swamp at night to try to spy on or contact Thatham, then they are ambushed by Runt and his 6 brothers. Any player with a passive perception of less than 15 is surprised during the battle, or have players roll perception DC15. Runt and his brothers fight dirty. One ogre will grapple a party member and pull them away from the group while the 2nd ogre attacks them for damage. Runt and the other 4 will each attack a seperate PC, trying to distract the strongest while knocking down the weakest. The swamp is difficult terrain for the party, but not the ogres. If the party doesn't go to the swamp, then Runt attacks them somewhere else but doesn't get to surprise them. Try to have Runt or one of his brothers escape from the battle if possible.
Reveal: Thatham is in the palace!
When the battle is over, Runt brags that Thatham is already infiltrated the palace and the emperor is probably already dead by now. If the party has any allies, they insist on running to the palace right away. If the party goes to the palace right away, Targ Belloc meets them at the palace gates. He's standing over Kamien Crow who is fatally wounded. He tells them explosions have happened all over the city and the guard is in chaos. He tells the party to come quickly to protect the emperor. If the party heals Kamien, he joins them as well. Targ leads them to the throne room where the witness Thatham behead the emperor. Thatham's mercenaries charge the party and attack. If the party does not go directly to the palace, then Thatham attacks them on his way out of the palace after killing the emperor. Runt, or the ogre that escaped will have joined them and will tell Thatham that you killed his brothers.
Climax: Fighting Thatham
Enemies: Thatham (Gladiator MM346), Veteran (MM350)
XP Reward: 7400xp (Divided among all PCs and NPCs)
Thatham will shieldbash with his first attacks until his foe is knocked prone, and then he will attack with advantage with his spear. He is arrogant and will attack the strongest looking martial party member. Targ tries to keep his distance and shoot Thatham with his bow. If Fayal is with the party, she will save Greater Invisibility just in case she needs to escape and will ice storm or cone of cold if she can get multiple enemies in one shot. Two of Thatham's men will fight whoever he is fighting, while the others will each go after seperate PCs or NPCs to try to divide and conquer. If the battle seems too difficult, then Dolmen Strakeln and Tevanga Palmer can show up during the battle to help, possibly with some guards.
Wrap-Up: A new Emperor?
A council member enters the throne room and declares that Lord Anlow Blackwell is here to assert his claim upon the throne by divine right of birth, and challenges the legitimacy of the Emperor's heir.
Treasure: 2000gp, And Roll Twice on the Treasure Hoard:
Challenge 0-4 table on DMG p.137