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INTRODUCTION

A crew of pirates have been betrayed! Sent on a mission to steal Foxbeard's treasure by their treacherous quartermaster they find themselves suffering the Curse of the Black Mark. They must face hostile locals, solve the puzzle of their curse and battle what's left of Foxbeard, or else accept a lifetime spent as rotting cadavers.

Curse of the Dread Marsh Crew is a ready to roll 5E one shot produced by Loke Battle Mats using battle maps, tokens and artwork from their Box of Adventure 2, Coast of Dread. It is a starter kit full of battle maps, terrain tokens and tokens of beasts, NPCs and baddies to run fantasy RPG encounters.

PREPARATION

Before you begin:

• prepare the battle maps you will need. If playing in person, you might print these out or display them on a TV. If playing remotely, they can be easily imported into your favorite Virtual Tabletop (VTT).

  • Windward Cemetery
  • Tomb with door closed
  • Tomb without door

• share the pre-generated character sheets with your players. Each player should choose one of the pre-gens, print it out or import it into the VTT you will be using.

  • Julaus, Level 2 Fighter
  • Idolynn, Level 2 Rogue
  • Fennick, Level 2 Warlock
  • Zorilan, Level 2 Wizard

• populate the map with minis or tokens. Here's a pdf sheet of all the minis you will need. Print and cut these out if you are playing in person and don't have some of the minis you might need. Here are digital tokens you can use in your VTT:

  • Julaus
  • Idolynn
  • Fennick
  • Zorilan
  • Foxbeard
  • Tobias Sand
  • Blackhand Ghoul
  • Old Will
  • Snuffles
  • Windward Militia
  • Windward Villager
  • Priestess Eltrion

It Starts with a Curse

The players start the adventure afflicted by a curse and have until dawn to re-enter a crypt and defeat the monsters inside to lift the curse.

The sealed crypt can only be opened once the sun sets and the cemetery will be visited by a watchman, his dog and a mob of villagers before that happens. Each Character Sheet in the back of this book has some information in their Back Story section that describes their opinions on recent activities. Please ask your players to read those before starting.

When you are ready to begin trigger the first Syrinscape MOOD (by clicking the button below) and read the following out to your players.

Curse of the Black Mark

Those who take the Emerald Eye out of Foxbeard's crypt are all struck by the Curse of the Black Mark. Those afflicted by the curse have until the coming dawn to put Foxbeard to rest, or else they truly die and become more of Foxbeard's Blackhand Ghouls.

As the GM it's your choice as to how much of this information you tell your players and how much you want to save and reveal during the game.

The three ongoing effects of the curse are The Black Mark, Going Nowhere and So, You're Dead....

The Black Mark Those afflicted by the curse gain a small black mark on their right hand. This mark grows if certain activities are performed by the carrier of the mark (these are detailed in each encounter). There is a special section on each character sheet to track The Black Mark.

Going Nowhere Those afflicted are unable to leave the graveyard surrounding Foxbeard's tomb. Whenever they try to leave they find themselves turned around.

So, You're Dead... Those afflicted immediately take on the appearance of a rotting version of themselves and apply the following:

• Aaargh! Your speech can only be fully understood by others suffering from So You're Dead.... To everyone else it sounds like mumbled growling, this gives Disadvantage to all skills requiring Speech.
• Dead Ringer. You look and smell just like a zombie and will show as undead to any detection magic. Note you are not classed as undead with regards to other effects.
• Dying Fortitude. You may expend and roll a Hit Dice after suffering damage from any source to reduce that damage by what was rolled on the Hit Dice + CON modifier.
• It Burns! You are vulnerable to the Radiant damage type (it does double damage).
• No Rest for the Dead. You are unable to benefit from a Long or Short Rest while cursed.

Windward Cemetery

Before the first encounter, and between further encounters in the cemetery, characters can use their limited time to explore and investigate their surroundings.

Whenever the players are between enounters, trigger this mood.

Everyone may do one of the following at these times:

Examine the Sealed Entrance The seal is a huge slab of immovable solid rock, a successful DC 10 Investigation check will reveal intricate carvings all around the edges. If a DC 15 Arcana check is passed or 'Comprehend Languages' is cast these symbols can be read as the following words in this order "Moon, Eye, Crew and Dead".

Search the Tomb A successful DC 15 Perception check will reveal a worn old piece of parchment that reads "Tricked into stealing the eye, now cursed. If you find this, the seal started glowing at night but I couldn't figure how to open the damn thing."

Search the Northwest Corner A DC 10 Perception check will uncover a bottle of sweet perfume left as an offering that has rolled into the undergrowth.

Search the Northeast Corner A grave stone here has the unmistakeable glimmer of gold inlaid in the letters of an epitaph. This could be scraped out for 10gp worth of gold, but anyone stealing this gold will earn an extra level on their Black Mark hand.

Search the Southeast Corner Someone has scratched disturbing graffiti all over a large gravestone. A successful DC 10 Investigation or Perception check will reveal a message amongst the scrawling in Thieves' Cant saying "The spot grows bigger each time we kill".

Search the Southwest Corner A successful DC 10 Perception check will uncover 12cp and a rusty dagger amongst a pile of juicy partially gnawed bones in the remains of a broken grave.

Hide a Body If they've killed someone and don't want to be found out, they can hide the body. The first body can be hidden in the stone coffin in the tomb but any more will require a DC 15 Athletics check to hastily bury. Only one body can be buried per player in the time available.

Do Something Else The players may well think of other things they'd like to do with the time, they have 10 minutes to use wisely...

Remember if they try to leave the cemetery they will be turned around by the curse and are unable to exit the area. Once everyone has performed one of these options move to the next encounter placing the character tokens as appropriate for the option performed.

Graveyard Shift

Trigger the Graveyard Shift Mood below and then read the boxed text.

You can continue voicing Old Will yourself using the voice in this OneShot as a model.

The watchman, Old Will, and his dog Snuffles are investigating the cemetery. His poor eyesight gives the characters a chance to convince him everything is fine, they just need to convince his dog too.

Add the Old Will and Snuffles tokens to the cemetery map on the easternmost path edge.

One Man and his Dog How the characters deal with Old Will and Snuffles will affect future encounters, if they can get these two on side things are easier and if they end up attacking them it becomes much harder!

Scare Away The characters can scare the pair out of the cemetery with a DC 10 Intimidation check, in which case both will return as part of the 'Meet the Locals' encounter.

Stay Hidden? Some or all characters may try to hide completely via Stealth checks, though Snuffles has a good nose and Advantage on Perception checks for smells!

Convince the Pair it's 'All Fine' To convince Old Will and Snuffles everything is fine and to leave, requires two successes between these tasks. Getting two failures will make them hostile.

• Convince Old Will that you're not zombies with a DC 15 Persuasion (Disadvantage due to Aaargh!).
• Use 'Charm Person' on Old Will.
• Use 'Speak with Animals' and convince Snuffles to help with a DC 10 Persuasion.
• Use 'Animal Handling' DC 15 to tame Snuffles. Using an item (steak sandwich, juicy bone etc.) grants Advantage on checks to tame Snuffles.
• Old Will has a pouch of dog treats, a successful DC 10 Sleight of Hand check could steal these and use them for an automatic success in taming Snuffles.
• Try to "Blend in" as visitors/gravediggers/gardeners for the day. (DC 15 Stealth/Deception/Performance). Masking the zombie smell with perfume or similar will grant Advantage on these checks.

Of course the players are free to suggest other options. The DC for most will be between 10 and 15.

Befriend Snuffles If two success are made in dealing with Snuffles (Tame, Speak with Animals etc.) then Snuffles joins as an ally and Old Will wanders over to sit under his favourite tree, in the north west corner, and have a rest.

If they Become Hostile This can happen if the characters attack or if their attempts to convince them go badly. Roll Initiative!

Snuffles will attack to protect Old Will, and Old Will loves his dog and will fight to help Snuffles for as long as Snuffles is fighting.

Black Marks Killing Old Will or Snuffles will result in each player that caused either of them damage, adding one level to the Black Mark hand on their character sheet.

End combat by selecting the Windward Cemetery Mood again here:

Meet the Locals

The local priestess, Eltrion, has sensed unrest up at the cemetery and convinced the militia to round up a group of villagers to investigate.

Now, 2 members of the Windward Militia are leading a mob of 12 Windward Villagers, with Priestess Eltrion alongside. Add the tokens for all the villagers, militia and the Priestess to the Cemetery Map anywhere within 15' of the eastern map edge.

The Fate of Old Will and Snuffles If Old Will is sitting by his tree following the last encounter he will warmly shout out and greet his eldest child, one of the Militia, and then assure him there is nothing to worry about and that you are "alright in his book". Any Checks to convince the mob or "blend in" can then be made at advantage.

If Old Will and/or Snuffles was killed and the bodies found then the mob are instantly hostile.

Hiding From the Mob Any character trying to hide from the Mob must make a DC 14 Stealth Check to avoid being spotted by the Priestess's keen eye.

If the mob is hostile and the characters are hidden, the mob will keep searching for some time, requiring two more DC 14 Stealth Checks to remain undiscovered before the mob give up and leave.

Convince the Mob It's possible to try and reason with or deceive the mob, this requires two successful checks from the characters from the following options:

• Convince the mob you're not zombies using either Persuasion, Deception or Performance (remember all speech is at disadvantage due to Aaargh!). Offering a gift/bribe here could offer Advantage.
• Use Charm person on a mob member.
• Try to "Blend in" as visitors/gravediggers/gardeners for the day. (DC 15 Stealth/Deception/Performance). Masking the zombie smell with perfume or similar will grant Advantage on these checks.

Of course the players are free to suggest other options. The DC for most will be between 10 and 15.

If the mob is convinced then they will take their leave and head back to the village of Windward, with the priestess giving some local wisdom as a departing gift.

Local Wisdom Eltrion will direct the characters to the carvings around the seal and advise that they believe these are the key to opening the seal. She could also be convinced, with a DC 20 Persuasion check to help and stay around as an ally.

If the Mob Becomes Hostile This can happen if the characters attack, if they killed Old Will/Snuffles or if their attempts to reason with the mob go badly. Roll Initiative!

The villagers will run away if possible as soon as three or more of their number are killed. The militia and priestess will fight on longer, retreating only if the villagers are safely away and they are reduced to 50% or less HP.

Don't forget that those afflicted by the Curse of the Black Mark are vulnerable, and take double damage from Radiant sources, like Eltrion's Sacred Flame cantrip.

Black Marks Killing any mob member will result in the player that killed them, adding one level to the Black Mark hand on their character sheet.

End combat by selecting the Windward Cemetery Mood again here:

Symbolic Seal

These 'Arcanic' symbols only become visible after sunset, and form most of the method to unlock the seal safely. There is one more hidden symbol required that requires moonlight to appear.

The Symbols These eleven glowing symbols combine to create a circular pattern with a distinct crescent shaped gap in the centre.

If a DC 15 Arcana check is passed or 'Comprehend Languages' is cast these symbols can be read as the following words "Fly, Sun, Eye, Souls, Life, Fox, Fire, Crew, Dead, Sea and Dawn".

The Seal Edge Carvings As a reminder the carvings they may have found when investigating the Windward Cemetery and that priestess Eltrion may have mentioned are "Moon, Eye, Crew and Dead".

If they've not found these carvings yet, they may still perform a DC 10 Investigation check to find them, then a DC 15 Arcana or 'Comprehend Languages' to understand.

The Moon Symbol If the seal is subjected to moonlight (or magic light) then a twelfth symbol that translates to Moon appears in the centre of the seal.

If looking for clues, a successful DC 12 Investigation check will reveal a small crescent shaped opening in the ceiling covered by moss. If the moss is cleared the Moon symbol appears as moonlight pours in.

Activating the Symbols Anyone afflicted by the Curse of the Black Mark that touches a symbol will make that symbol turn red for as long as they touch it.

Not the Right Code If any three or more symbols that don't include any from Moon, Eye, Crew or Dead, are red at the same time, a pulse of energy blasts out, causing everyone within 30ft of the seal to take 2d6 Force damage.

The Right Code If the Eye, Crew and Dead symbols are all red at the same time the seal opens.

The Moon symbol is the safety symbol, if it's not also red when the seal opens everyone within 30ft of the seal takes 2d6 Force damage.

The Way is Now open Once the seal is open the stairs are revealed leading down into the crypt (remove the seal token). The party may now enter the crypt.

Enter the Crypt

The crypt is unlit and the Characters may need to arrange light for themselves. There is a wall sconce with an unlit lantern by the door.

The door is locked and can be opened with a DC 12 Thieves Tools check or with a DC 15 Strength Ability check. Once the door is opened, immediately begin the Foxbeard's Challenge encounter.

Foxbeard's Challenge

This is Foxbeard's resting place and he was awakened when the Emerald Eye was taken from the crypt. Place Foxbeard's token on the edge of his sarcophagus nearest the entrance.

Normally thieves don't figure out how to get back inside before dawn rises and die from the curse, raising as Blackhand Ghouls and joining Foxbeard's crypt bound crew.

Talking of crew, 3 Blackhand Ghouls and Tobias Sand are hiding in the crypt, they will wait until the Characters move into the room before they act, ideally attacking in the rear. A successful DC 14 Perception check will notice them.

The Sound of His Own Voice Foxbeard has plenty of time, so will monologue at the Characters for as long as possible.

This gives the Characters chance to spot the lurking ghouls and position themselves where they wish.

If by any chance he keeps them talking for 15 minutes, another Blackhand Ghoul awakens in the north east room.

Let's Fight When the characters take any offensive action or advance within 10 ft. of Foxbeard, roll initiative and begin combat.

Foxbeard will target the Character with the highest level of Black Marks where possible.

If reduced to 25% HP, Foxbeard will use his Crew Sacrifice ability at the next opportunity.

Collapsing the Roof While by no means easy, it would be possible to collapse some or all of the ceiling here by knocking down the supporting pillars. Each pillar (AC 17, HP 18) if destroyed brings down rubble in a 5 ft. radius causing 5d6 Bludgeoning damage. As soon as four pillars are destroyed the whole roof collapses, bringing the ceiling in the main room down, causing 10d6 Bludgeoning damage.

Lifting the Curse If Foxbeard is reduced to 0 HP then the magic of the curse is dispelled, this removes all effects of the Curse of the Black Mark from the Characters and destroys any remaining Blackhand Ghouls and Tobias.

Giving Foxbeard the Emerald Eye or placing it back on the sarcophagus does not end the curse!

Treasure! Foxbeard has some valuables on his corpse and the Emerald Eye itself is a well cut emerald worth 1,250gp, now curse free.

A DC 10 Investigation check will also reveal a chest beneath the base of his sarcophagus that contains a haul of 1,500gp in mixed coins.

To begin battle with Tobias and the Ghouls:

To bring Foxbeard to the fore:

To collapse the roof:

If the party is defeated:

If the party is victorious:

The End?

The Crew either return to sea slightly older, wealthier, hopefully wiser and with a new respect for other people's property.

Or they may have failed and instead joined the cursed undead crew.

Open Gaming Licence

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