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Hellsbreath 1.01

Ask me in December if this is a #dungeon23 challenge.

Hellsbreath

Once, a Prince of Hell served as ruler of this city and he connected his mortal and infernal realms by
means of a Great Stair, built of fire, brimstone, silver, and memeory.
After his reign ended, the Baker's Guild took advantage of the endless gout of hellfire that poured out of
where the Stair emerged from the ground, and built ovens over it. The bakery, Hellsbreath, produces
strange and powerful goods, and the Baker's Guild has gained influence across the material world and
beyond.

Many guilds and factions covet the ovens of Hellsbreath. The weaponsmiths would have them as their
forge. The alchemists would stoke them to fire their crucibles. The Church's interest is well known,
although they will not share disclose intentions. And of course everyone knows that, through the fiery
door of the ovens, lies the mythic underworld and its untold mysteries and riches.

What brings you to Hellsbreath?

  • A rival faction has sent you to spy on and undermine the Bakers.

  • There are magical secrets that can only be learned here.

  • You, or a patron, need to find and speak to a particular shade.

  • You, or a patron, seek a boon from the Master Bakers.

  • You, or a patron, want to make a deal with a devil.

  • You would plunder the Underworld.


1. Baker's Square

A large public square, hemmed by statues of city luminaries of yore.

Center: an elaborate fountain, topped by a 20' marble statue of the Prince of Hell.

  • Fountain pool is filthy and diseased, but contains 1d12x100 copper pieces.

  • The statue is probably a secret door to somewhere I haven't figured out yet.

North: The Bakery Gates. Bronze doors (20' wide, 20' tall) set in the 35' tall stone wall that surrounds the bakery.
The doors are deep green with verdigris, but a great bas relief face, split down the middle where the doors meet, is polished and bright. This depicts the face of the Prince of Hell, and great hoops dangling from his earlobes serve as both knocker and door-pull. 
A smaller door is set in the gates for foot traffic. It is guarded by 2 dough golems and Brother Porter. They will only allow entry to those Brother Porter considers as having a legitimate interest (e.g. expected
supplies for the bakery, a letter of introduction from someone very important, or sufficient funds to be a
possible patron of the guild).
Brother Porter:Blank-expression, sepulchral voice. Has seen it all and isn't impressed. Cannot be swayed from his duty
by the likes of the aspirants. Has an alarm bell if things go badly. He outclasses beginning-level adventurers
in terms of implacability.
Dough Golems: 12’ tall, glutinous bodies crammed into black-iron armor, wielding twisted black glaives. They out-class
beginning adventurers in combat strength.
Aspirants: The public square is crowded day and night by aspirants desperate to gain access to the
bakery's wares. Rolling each column below or picking and choosing, generate several individuals or
groups for the players to interact with. Note: all of these aspirants are deluded and their plans to get
through the gate will fail.

Name

Feature

Occupation

Demeanor

Desire

Plan

1

Adam

Awakened bear

Acolyte

Assertive

To achieve power

Astound Brother Porter with performance

2

Agatha

Belches smoke

Adventurer

Braggadocious

To commune with spirits

Bribe Brother Porter with something petty

3

Benevolence

Birds living in beard/hair

Alewife

Calm

To destroy a rival

Cast a spell on Brother Porter

4

Berinon

Bruised and battered

Apothecary

Confident

To earn a ruler’s favor

Claim to be there on business

5

Cedany

Crushed velvet

Butcher

Creepy

To enter the underworld

Declare loyalty to Brother Porter

6

Cedric

Dissolute Faerie

Carpenter

Curious

To experience something unique

Dedicate a poem to Brother Porter

7

Diggs

Dressed in hides

Cobbler

Depressed

To feed an addiction

Exploit the golems’ secret weakness

8

Dimia

Elaborate plumed hat

Farmer

Desperate

To find someone lost

Extort Brother Porter

9

Guy

Extremely near-sighted

Gong Farmer

Distraught

To find something lost

Humiliate Brother Porter

10

Lovelace

Filthy

Hedgewitch

Dreamy

To fulfill a holy vision

Impress Brother Porter with baking prowess

11

Petronilla

Gorgeous tattoos

Herald

Jealous

To fulfill a vow

Mob-rush the gates

12

Rattleby

Half-starved

Locksmith

Optimistic

To gain knowledge

Plead one’s heartfelt case

13

Rolf

One-Eyed

Peddler

Outraged

To join the bakers

Present a flawless metaphysical argument

14

Rose

Radiant smile

Sailor

Overweening

To learn secrets

Protect Brother Porter from the other aspirants

15

Samuel

Ritualistic scarring

Scribe

Passionate

To make a fortune

Scale the wall

16

Serafina

Seaweed and barnacles

Soldier

Proud

To receive a cure

Summon a demon

17

Tomlin

Smells of cinnamon

Stonemason

Shrewd

To save another’s life

Tempt Brother Porter with illicit pleasures

18

Tulip

Surrounded wailing children

Tax Collector

Suspicious

To save a place or institution

Threaten Brother Porter

19

Xalvador

Three kobolds in a trenchcoat

Thief

Sycophantic

To steal what can be stolen

Threaten to reveal guild secrets

20

Ysmay

Waxed and sculpted hair

Weaver

Unctious

To win love

Throw fire bombs

Occasionally, a dozen additional golems emerge from the gate-door and forcibly remove the aspirants
from the square. Once the square is clear, they open the gates so that one of the following can either
enter or leave:
  1. A noble's carriage

  2. A merchant's carriage

  3. Wagons of mundane supplies (vegetables, fruit, flours)

  4. Armored wagons of exotic supplies (spices, magical ingredients)

  5. Envoys from another guild

  6. The faculty of a wizard's school on a large magic carpet

  7. A warband mounted on giant boars/mechanical goats/armored gorillas

  8. A dragon or other large mystical creature


Commentary: This first room of the dungeon is a puzzle of the "obvious door, hidden lever" type. The PCs

can't fight or talk their way through the gates. They need to think more laterally than that. This can be a f

rustrating choke-point, right at the beginning of an adventure, but there should be lots of colorful social

interaction with the aspirants for the PCs to interact with. Hopefully that will spark ideas. And since they

haven't passed through the gates, yet, they have access to literally the rest of the world should they want

to do anything. Or, skip all this and start the PCs out with a letter explaining that they have legitimate

business here.


Hey! Here's a bunch of #dungeon23 projects to check out.

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