SHape of

Folly
 SHape of Folly

Introduction: A local dwarven family of miners has rediscovered an old family

mine and wish to reclaim it. Rumored to be filled with adamantine ore, it could be
worth tens of thousands of gold pieces. The party would receive a substantial cut,
should they return with proof of having found and cleared the mine. As they plumb
its depths, however, the party discovers that the mine has been reshaped for some
unknown end.

An six-hour adventure for three to seven 1st to 4th level characters,

with tips for running the module for higher level play

This module may be run as a standalone adventure or may be added to your own
campaign. Notes are included providing guidance on how to add this to a campaign
that visits Undermountain, in Waterdeep, as well.

Adventure: Eugene Marshall; Written Summer 2018, revised Spring 2020

Layout: Amy Bliss Marshall
Cover Art: Bad Moon Art Studios; Cartography: Alida Saxon
Interior Art: James Denton and art made available under the Community
Content Agreement for the DMs Guild by Wizards of the Coast

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and
their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries.
This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for
Dungeon Masters Guild.
All other original material in this work is copyright 2019 by Eugene Marshall & Arcanist Press and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters
Guild.

SHAPE OF FOLLY
 Table of Contents
Adventure Primer 4
Adventure Background:
The Tale of Karandor Blackhelm 4 Second Level:
The Planar Fissure 4 Modron Malfunction 15
Modron Labor 4 Overview 15
No Motherlode at All 4 Area Information 15
Karandor’s End 5 Area 15: The Sphere and the Pillar 15
The Eye of the Beholder 5 Area 16: The Hallway Beyond
Adventure Overview 5 the Spherical Room 17
Adjusting the Adventure 6 Area 17: A Tetrahedron 17
Adventure Hooks 6 Area 18: The Cube of Earth 18
Call to Action: Area 19: The Octahedral Room
The Blackhelms’ Map 7 of Air 19
The First Level: Area 20: The Icosahedron
Monsters and a Magical Door 7 of Water 21
Area Information 7 Area 21: The Dodecahedron
The Entrance 9 of Fire 21
Area 1: Entrance 9 Area 23: The Stairs Down 22
Area 2: The Great Hall 9 Level Three: The Beholder’s Lair 22
Area 3: The Northern End Area 24: The Beholder’s
of Great Hall 9 Central Eye 22
Area 4: The Iron Door in the Area 25 (rooms 1-7):
Eastern Side of the Great Hall 10 The Eye Chambers 24
Area 5: The Southern End Rewards 28
of the Great Hall 10 Combat Experience 28
Area 6: Southeastern Hallway 10 Non-combat Experience 28
Area 7: Slime Room 10 Treasure 28
Area 8: Rats 11 Appendix: Monster Statistics 29
Area 9: The Mining Supply Room 12
Area 10: Northeastern Hallway 12
Area 11: Clerks Room 12
Area 12: Destroyed Archive 13
Area 13: Ettin Lair 13
Area 14: The Vault 14

SHAPE OF FOLLY 3
Adventure Primer Modron Labor
As his new workers began to excavate
Welcome to The Shape of Folly, a DM’s
the mine at a remarkable pace, his mind
Guild adventure designed for three to
formed a devious plot. Fabricating lies of an
seven 1st to 4th level characters, with
imminent orc invasion, he sent away his fellow
guidance for parties of higher level.
dwarves, leaving himself alone in the mine.
Though this adventure could be set in a
variety of locations as the DM may choose, Setting This Adventure Beneath
the default setting for this adventure is the
Savage Frontier of the north Sword Coast, in
Waterdeep, in Undermountain
The default backstory and location for this adventure
the Forgotten Realms. Specifically, it occurs in
is provided here, though DMs are invited to alter
the Starmetal Hills, just west of the High Road, what they need, as they inevitably will and should
half-way between Triboar and Longsaddle. do. One suggested alteration, for example, would
be to set this adventure in Undermountain. Rather
Adventure Background: The than having the dwarf Karandor Blackhelm journey
Tale of Karandor Blackhelm to the Starmetal Hills, have him instead descend into
Undermountain, pursuing rumors of an adamantine
Three centuries ago, a shield dwarf wizard vein therein. A few details should be changed, such as
named Karandor Blackhelm was prospecting Karandor’s journal, which mentions the Starmetal Hills.
with a small team of miners in a remote area of
the Starmetal Hills, east of Neverwinter Wood. For years, the small team of biomechanical
There, he uncovered a deposit of starmetal beings toiled for him, turning the simple caves
adamantine, a rare ore found only in fallen into a series of chambers. They began with
meteorites, and after which the region took what Karandor requested: a proper welcoming
its name. What he did not know, however, is hall for when he would be crowned King of
that this particular piece of starmetal bore the Starmetal Hills, or so he had hoped. They
an awful enchantment, eventually causing then built areas for workers, miners, guards,
irrationality in any who lingered in its presence, accountants, and a vault, of course, in which
which for him manifested as paranoid greed. he could store his riches. And beyond it was
the real secret: the caves containing the
The Planar Fissure adamantine, as well as the planar fissure.
For a time, Karandor was certain, his plan
Deep within the cave, he finally found the was a complete success. The modrons dutifully
source of the adamantine. It had not fallen constructed his vault to his exacting dwarven
from the sky but issued from a tiny extraplanar specifications. Yet he began to notice erratic
portal – a crack in reality, as it were, gently behavior in the creatures. They built more than
emanating planar power. This energy suffused they were asked and, eventually, they began
the rock around him and gradually resulted in to build eccentric deviations from his careful
the adamantine deposits found in the cave. plans.
As a wizard, he had studied the planes
before, so this find fueled his thoughts anew. No Motherlode at All
Finally, after weeks of experimentation and as
he was nearing exhaustion, he conducted a Soon, when he had finally mined all the of the
ritual, one that would be his downfall. adamantine vein, he felt he was finally ready
He thought it was a marvelous success, to reveal his find to the world, so he traveled to
however. For, from the portal, Karandor Waterdeep to sell his motherlode. Once there,
was able to summon and control the perfect however, he was devastated to learn that the
workers. The followed orders unerringly, never adamantine was impure and thus not well
arguing. They would not speak to others about suited for use in metallurgical applications.
the find here. And they did not want to be Something about the energies flowing from
paid. For he had summoned, and corrupted, the planar fissure rendered the adamantine
modrons. brittle, so that, when a smith attempted to
forge with it, it would shatter into dust. And

4 SHAPE OF FOLLY
when heated, it would burn and smolder. He himself immortal and even more powerful than
was able to extract some usable adamantine, he already was. The ritual failed, however, and
but far less than he had envisioned. Gyax became nothing more than a beholder
Forlorn, he lingered in Waterdeep for a zombie, floating around aimlessly in his former
few weeks, drinking heavily. When he finally laboratory. And it is into this accursed place
emerged from his drunken stupor, however, he that our adventurers enter.
realized that his head had cleared of more than
the drink, for the influence of the mine had Adventure Overview
passed as well. He sought out his family, then, The adventure’s story follows the three levels of
and told them of his failed mine and his plan the mine and takes six to eight hours to play.
to return. He gave them the gold that he was ¤ Call to Action: The Blackhelms’ Map.
able to get for the tainted adamantine – his nest The Blackhelms hire the adventurers to
egg, he called it – and returned to the mine. His travel to the lost mine of Karandor, claim
relatives took that nest egg and used it to buy it for them, and clear it of threats. The
the very manor in the village that they live in mine lies hidden in the Starmetal Hills.
today, in fact. ¤ The First Level: Monsters and a Magical
Door. Karandor’s Mine consists of three
Karandor’s End levels. The top level, open to the elements,
For his part, Karandor returned to the mine, resembles an abandoned dwarven mining
where he discovered two horrible truths. outpost that has been gradually overrun
The first was that his modron workforce had by natural threats, that have formed an
somehow become corrupted. Perhaps it was ecosystem, with an ettin and a black
when they were pulled through the portal, pudding eating giants toads and spiders,
or perhaps it was simply being disconnected which in turn eat rats. The top floor also
from Mechanus and the Will of Primus. contains a sealed vault which can only be
Regardless, they began to spin out of control, accessed by a magical key. One of each is to
constructing ever stranger and more dangerous be found down each of the two wings of the
rooms full of unnecessary defenses. It was complex in the lairs of the ettin and black
as if the modrons themselves were reflecting pudding.
Karandor’s paranoia and greed, but through
their own orderly, geometrical lens. The Magical Doors
Second, and more unfortunate for Karandor, The doors are perfectly formed iron doors with no
is that another creature had found a way handles or any other visible way to open them save for
to pass through the fissure: a beholder. circular indentations on their centers, decorated with
The creature introduced itself as Gyaximus intricate geometric designs. These exactly match the two
Arnesondratus and proceeded to disintegrate “keys” to be found elsewhere on the level. When these
are places within an inch of the indentations, the keys
the poor dwarf.
click into place, like magnets being drawn to each other,
though this is a magical effect, not magnetic (despite
The Eye of the Beholder what you may have heard, magnets are not magic).
In the intervening centuries, the Blackhelm Once all of the indentations on the door are filled with
family first awaited Karandor’s return and then, the circular keys, the door opens. It can be manually
after a generation, largely forgot about him. swung open or closed now. If the doors are swung all
the way closed, the coins can be removed from their
In the mine, however, the modrons continued
slots, leaving the door unlocked until magically locked
their work, ever more eccentric and paranoid. again with the arcane lock spell. It is intended that
In the bottom of the mine, Gyax the beholder these doors be openable only with these keys, though
continued to conduct his magical research, the DM may allow extraordinary successes to do so
attempting to understand the corrupted as well (for example, a DC 25 Strength check, or over
adamantine, the fissure, and the modrons 100 points of damage). The DM may also allow magical
themselves. But even he was not immune solutions, such as the clever placement of a passwall
to the corrupted energies of the fissure. spell. Again, though, it is the general purpose of these
Whereas Karandor became paranoid and doors and keys to structure the characters’ movement
greedy, Gyax became power-hungry and through the various challenges and encounters, so
hopefully they will not cleverly bypass all of them!
obsessed with immortality. So, the beholder
attempted to become a death tyrant, rendering

SHAPE OF FOLLY 5
¤ Second Level: Modron Malfunction. The As for Dungeon Mastering beyond this advice,
second floor has another magical door, but the standard rules apply, beginning with the
it also exhibits the gradual malfunctioning of Rule of Fun. DMs should feel free to adjust
the modrons who constructed the areas. The anything in this adventure to enhance the fun
rooms take on a variety of geometric shapes, had at their table.
contain odd tessellated tiles, and are full of
traps, a sign of the modrons' descent into Adventure Hooks
irrationality. There is a central room with a The Blackhelms are a local dwarven family
door which requires six of the circular keys of miners who have lived in the village of
to open. Characters must move through the Longsaddle since its foundation, centuries
side areas, collecting the keys, so that they ago. Recently, when digging a foundation
can open the door to descend to the final for a new barn, they uncovered an old root
level. The rooms are organized around the cellar that had been buried when the old
four elements and the Platonic solids – or, as barn collapsed, a generation ago. Inside, they
we might know them, the 4-sided, 6-sided, found a box with some shipping manifests
8-sided, 12-sided, and 20-sided dice. that dated back to when they purchased
¤ Third Level: Beholder’s Lair. The final their land. Among the papers, however, they
level is the beholder, now beholder zombie’s, found a map of the Starmetal Hills with a
lair. It was built by the modrons, who location included on it: Karandor’s Mine.
came to revere and obey Gyax before his Gold. The dwarven Blackhelm family has
transformation. To honor him, they built come to the characters to ask them to travel
his lair in the shape of a beholder! It is a to the mine and explore it. If it does contain a
cylindrical room with seven passages leading lode of adamantine, then the Blackhelm family
off, like eye stalks, to small rooms. In the promises to split the profits with the party
back room furthest from the entrance, in 50/50. The family will also allow the characters
one of the “eye stalk” rooms, is the fissure, to claim whatever other treasure they might find
a pencil thin crack out of which strange there, but they ask that the characters return
energies emanate. anything of family or historical importance to
the family. If there truly is a vein of adamantine,
Adjusting the Adventure it could be worth thousands of gold, depending
For each encounter, there are sidebars on its size.
describing how to adjust the combat challenges Old man Blackhelm reports that he had
to account for larger or smaller groups of heard tales when he was a lad of Karandor.
characters of higher or lower levels than the “‘Twas a mining outpost in the Starmetal Hills,”
optimized size and level. As always, the DM he said, “filled with a vault full of adamantine,
is free to decide to make further adjustments the rare and incredibly tough material usually
or to disregard these suggestions. only found in places imbued with magic.” It can
This adventure includes suggestions for also be found, at times, in meteorites, for which
scaling encounters to fit the capabilities of the the Starmetal Hills were famed and named.
party. To approximate the party strength for the
adventure compared to the expected average
party level (APL), consult the table below.

Party Composition Party Strength

3-4 characters below 3rd level Very weak
3-4 3rd-level characters Weak
3-4 characters above 3rd level Average
5 characters below 3rd level Weak
5 3rd-level characters Average
5 characters above 3rd level Strong
6-7 characters below 3rd level Average
6-7 3rd-level characters with an APL equal to 3 Strong
6-7 characters above 3rd level Very strong

6 SHAPE OF FOLLY
 Power. If gold is not sufficient to motivate
your characters, perhaps the promise of magical The First Level:
lore or power will. Old Man Blackhelm also Monsters and a Magical
recalls that Karandor was said to be a wizard
of some power and that he had figured out Door
powerful, new magical secrets in the mine.
The first level consists of a main hall and
Kindness. Finally, if neither magical power
two symmetrical wings, each with dorms,
nor gold will motivate, you could explain that
workrooms, and storerooms – or what is left of
the Blackhelm family needs a substantial
them, at any rate. This level has been exposed
amount of money to save their failing farm and
to centuries of the elements, looters, and beasts
that this may be a good way to help them save
lairing here, and little of the old dwarven mining
their family. Why not through in a sad child to
outpost remains. As the characters enter the
seal the deal, eh?
main hall, however, signs of recent activity are
found, including a lit fire and a large pile of
Call to Action: The chopped wood. There is also signs of damage
Blackhelms’ Map and decay throughout. Because this area is
effectively reverting to a natural wilderness
The Blackhelms hire the party to delve the environment, it contains the sorts of things
lost mine of Karandor in hopes of discovering one might find in a mountain cave. But it also
a wealth of adamantine and starmetal. contains two keys, which can open the sealed
You have traveled to the Starmetal Hills, vault door which leads to the mine below.
looking for Karandor’s lost mining treasure.
With some effort, you find the entrance to Area Information
Karandor, a dwarven stone-crafted portal Weather. Outside, the weather is cool and
nestled half-way up the cliffside of a blind rainy. Inside the first level, the air is damp and
gorge in the back of a dusty vale, deep in the smells like a natural cave in which decades of
Starmetal Hills. An eroded path winds up the creatures have laired. The temperature is more
steep hills on the eastern face of the vale. It is moderate and the air still within, but there is
traversable and it is a simple, if arduous, task also the distinct smell of wood smoke.
to scramble up to the entrance. Light and Visibility. There are two light
The DM may of course expand upon this sources in the first level: a bonfire burning
introduction as they see fit, drawing from the in a stone brazier and another in the back
longer background and introduction above. room down the northern passage, where an
ettin lairs. The rest of the level is dark beyond
whatever light the characters might provide.
Terrain. The ground is good dwarven
stonework, though in the first level there are
several large cracks visible, as though there had
been seismic activity in the past. The southern
portion of the first level is slightly off-level,
enough to allow water to pool in the southern
end of the main room. This has no effect on
movement, however.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 7
The Entrance On closer inspection, as well as another
successful DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check, old
The ancient doorway is a testament to dwarven blood stains can be seen here, leading off to
craftsmanship. The weathered, rutted stone the northeast. On a successful DC 15 Wisdom
still stands in its original shape, a geometric (Survival) check the character can ascertain
entrance twenty feet high and nearly as many that the dried blood is perhaps a month old. The
wide, opening into a small entrance chamber chair on the dais is not exactly royal looking,
strewn with debris and the ingress of the but certainly official. A character who makes a
elements. Weeds poke up between cracks DC 10 Intelligence (History) check knows that
in the flagstones, gravel and dirt litter the this was the place where the head official for
floor. In the back corner lies the remains of this mine would sit to receive people and to
a huge nest, though it looks as though it has adjudicate matters. Dwarves have Advantage on
recently been abandoned. In the back of the this check.
small foyer a dark tunnel beckons, the light
from behind you revealing the top of a stone The Main Hall and the Two Wings
stair descending down and to the right. The Main Hall is, clearly, just that: a hall designed
With a successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) for receiving guests, entertaining, and coming
check, the characters can recognize that it was together. It is the only room that appears to have
recently a griffon nest. A successful DC 12 much in the way of decoration, suggesting it was
Intelligence (Investigation) check finds dried the room where outsiders might ever be received.
blood around the nest, suggesting a fight had The southeastern wing likely contained dormitories
and storage rooms. The northeastern wing once
occurred here recently.
contained offices and rooms where business was
Area 1: Entrance conducted, as well as Karandor’s own quarters. Finally,
the room behind the sealed door was once the vault
The stairs descend, and descend, and descend. where the mined ore was stored. It is through this
Winding around and ever downwards, deeper room as well that the mine itself was accessed.
into and beneath the heavy stone mountain
above and around you. Every so often an Area 3: The Northern End of Great
unlit sconce can be seen on the side of
the walls about four feet above the steps. Hall
Finally, the stairs end and open up into a A massive dwarven statue stands on a
cavernous chamber ahead to the east. pedestal, wielding a mighty stone hammer,
The stairs show signs of centuries of the top of its head shrouded in gloom.
environmental erosion, but are still usable, Here a statue of Dumathoin, the dwarven
thanks to the well-crafted dwarven stonework. god of mining, can be seen towering thirty feet
A character who makes a successful DC 12 high. Characters may make a DC 10 Intellignece
Wisdom (Survival) check recognizes that there (Religion) check to identify him, with dwarf
has been regular traffic here, including dried characters recognizing him without a roll. Two
drops of blood. Down the stairs, a successful stout pillars hold up the vault above. At the
DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a northeast corner of this room, there is an iron
Large humanoid footprint in the dust. banded, wooden door barely hanging on its
hinges. More noticeable blood smears lead into
Area 2: The Great Hall the hallway beyond.
The stairs empty into a great rectangular The northwestern corner of the Great Hall
hall of dwarven design. The Hall is 150 feet has a stout pillar ascending to the ceiling. Along
across, north to south, and 100 feet deep to the ceiling and halfway down the pillar, between
the east, with a fifty-foot-high ceiling. A dais the northwest pillar and the northern wall, thick
raised four feet above the floor dominates the webs can be seen. These webs are not visible
middle of the room. On its center stands a unless a character comes within 30 feet of the
single chair - or throne. Behind it stand two area, as they are partly obscured by the pillar,
stone braziers, one of which is lit with wood as well as the gloom in the room. If a character
burning in it. To the left, or north, a huge passes to the north of the pillar or dwarven
stone figure of a dwarf can be glimpsed in the statue, or spends time examining this pillar,
gloom. To the south only rubble is visible. two giant spiders drop from the web above.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 9
If the character had noticed the webs and Area 5: The Southern End of the
was on guard, the character is not Surprised
for the first round of combat. Otherwise they Great Hall
are. Characters with passive Perception of 17 Broken statues and pillars can be seen in the
or higher (equal to the giant spiders’ passive darkness off to your right, toward the south
Stealth score) also notice the spiders descending end of the hall. The floor here is slightly slanted
and thus not be Surprised. downward, away from the center of the main
room, as though it had settled long ago, with
Adjusting This Encounter a crack running east-west here. Foul, murky
Very Weak Party: Remove one giant spider water has settled in the corner of the room
Weak Party: Remove one giant spider, beyond the crack, reaching a depth of several
add one giant wolf spider feet by the back wall. To the left and beyond
Strong Party: Add two giant spiders the standing water is a tunnel heading off to
the southeast. There was once a door here,
Very Strong Party: Add two giant spiders and an ettercap
but it has been torn off its hinges long ago.
If the party is of a higher level, consider substituting As the characters approach the edge of
phase spiders for the giant spiders. the water — just traveling toward the nearby
Treasure. If the characters defeat the hallway is close enough — two giant toads
spiders and burn or cut the webbing, a dwarven lunge out of the water and strike the nearest
skeleton falls out, having been trapped in the person!
webbing for many years. Most of its possessions
are destroyed but there is still a fine dwarven
Adjusting the Encounter
Weak or Very Weak Party: Remove one giant toad
silvered dagger, worth 50gp.
Strong or Very Strong Party: Add two giant toads
Area 4: The Iron Door in the If the party is of a higher level, consider
Eastern Side of the Great Hall substituting giant constrictor snakes

A stalwart iron door stands here, seamlessly Treasure. If the characters defeat the
attached to the stone around it. The door is toads and search the filthy, murky water, they
constructed from massive, iron slabs and must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving
bolts. Adorning its bronze and iron surface is a throw or be Poisoned for one hour. With a
circular indentation, about human palm sized. successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check,
The door is also sealed fast. Should the however, they find a rusted sword. The sword
characters find one of the lodestones down is worthless, but its pommel contains an easily
either side passage, they can unlock the door removable emerald worth 25 gp.
that leads to the Vault.
Area 6: Southeastern Hallway
The Iron Doors
This hallway stretches to the southeast and
In this mine complex, there are two sets of iron doors
into darkness. Two doors, one per side,
with circular indentations in the middle of them, one
on this floor and one on the next. The door on the can be seen. This area is dank and moist,
first floor has one circular indentation on it, while the with the smell of mold and rot in the air.
door on the second floor has six such indentations. The hallway has one door on each side and a
These doors are masterfully crafted dwarven iron door at its end. It is littered with rat droppings.
work and are incredibly durable. They also have an
arcane lock spell cast on them. On a successful DC 12 Area 7: Slime Room
Intelligence (Investigation) check, a character identfies
that the circular indentation is faintly magnetic.
This room is mostly empty, except for
some stinking sludge pools. Most are
Breaking down the door would normally have a DC of small, perhaps a foot across, with small
20 to break down, but the arcane lock makes it 30. The
bones sticking up and out from them.
arcane lock spell opens the door when one of the circular
lodestones found elsewhere in the mine are placed in
Unbeknownst to the characters, there is a
the indentations. The first door needs one, but the one green slime clinging to the ceiling of this room.
on the second level needs six. The stones can be reused The strange rot puddles are in fact the remains
and removed once they have been used to open a door. of rats that had been slimed, draw them in
without their looking up at the ceiling. The large
10 SHAPE OF FOLLY
 Area 8: Rats
This 20-by-20-foot room contains two notable
things. To the left of the door is a fetid pool of
foul-smelling, murky water. To the right is a
pile of filth that resembles a combination of
rotten wooden furniture, animal droppings,
and rotten flesh – which is precisely what it is.

On Not Adjusting this Encounter

There is no need to adjust the encounter with the
swarms of rats. Not every combat need be of Medium
difficulty! Besides, the rats’ presence here in this
complex accounts for the presence of the giant
toads and giant spiders, which in turn can provide
food for such predators as the black pudding or the
slime covers the ceiling above the door and ettin. Combine that with the source of (admittedly
spreads toward the center of the room in a ten diseased and stagnant) water, as well as the fact that
by ten square. It has blindsight out to a range of this complex serves as shelter from the elements, and
30 feet and drops from walls and ceilings when you have an explanation for the (fictional, fantasy)
it detects movement below it. Beyond that, it ecosystem found on this level. The second level,
has no ability to move. A creature aware of the however, lacks a naturally balanced ecosystem due to
slime’s presence can avoid being struck by it its unusual builders, as your players will soon discover.
with a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation)
Otherwise, the slime can’t be avoided as it check or passive score reveals that this
drops. was likely a former bunk room or dorm,
A creature that comes into contact with perhaps where a small number of dwarven
green slime takes 5 (1d10) acid damage. The miners stayed before heading down into the
creature takes the damage again at the start mines. The water in the fetid pool is murky
of each of its turns until the slime is scraped and foul-smelling. If a character enters the
off or destroyed. Against wood or metal, green water, they must make a DC 11 Constitution
slime deals 11 (2d10) acid damage each saving throw or contract sewer plague.
round, and any nonmagical wood or metal When a character enters the room and
weapon or tool used to scrape off the slime approaches the pile, two swarms of rats emerge
is effectively destroyed. Sunlight, any effect from it and attack the character.
that cures disease, and any effect that deals
cold, fire, or radiant damage destroys a patch
of green slime. Beyond the slime, the room is
empty.

Adjusting the Encounter

If the characters are level 5 or higher, substitute a brown
mold for the green slime and make the puddles and
bones frozen piles of fur. If you opt for the brown mold,
don’t forget that the room is noticeably cooler than the
rest of the area. Even in the hallway, a chill can be felt.
When a creature moves to within 5 feet of the mold
for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it
must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking
22 (4d10) cold damage on a failed saving throw, or half
as much damage on a successful one. Brown mold is
immune to fire, and any source of fire brought within
5 feet of a patch causes it to instantly expand outward
in the direction of the fire, covering a 10-foot-square
area (with the source of the fire at the center of that
area). A patch of brown mold exposed to an effect
that deals cold damage is instantly destroyed.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 11
 careful, the black pudding falls after someone
Sewer Plague has entered the room, cutting them off, and
Sewer plague is a generic term for a broad strikes with its pseudopod in a surprise attack.
category of illnesses that incubate in sewers,
refuse heaps, and stagnant swamps, and which Adjusting the Encounter
are sometimes transmitted by creatures that
Very Weak Party: Replace the black pudding with
dwell in those areas, such as rats and otyughs.
an ochre jelly and place it on the ceiling above
When a humanoid creature is bitten by a creature the far wall, so it will not Surprise the party
that carries the disease, or when it comes into
Weak Party: Replace the black
contact with filth or offal contaminated by the
pudding with an ochre jelly
disease, the creature must succeed on a DC 11
Constitution saving throw or become infected. Strong Party: Have the black pudding wait until two
characters are beneath it before dropping on them
It takes 1d4 days for sewer plague’s symptoms to
manifest in an infected creature. Symptoms include Very Strong Party: Add a second black pudding
fatigue and cramps. The infected creature suffers If the party is of a higher level, have the two puddings
one level of exhaustion, and it regains only half each on one side of the door and have them both
the normal number of hit points from spending Hit drop the floor and attack simultaneously.
Dice and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
At the end of each long rest, an infected creature must After having killed the pudding, one of the
make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. On a failed palm-sized lodestones carved with intricate
save, the character gains one level of exhaustion. On patterns can be found in the watery corner.
a successful save, the character’s exhaustion level Being magical, the lodestones are immune to
decreases by one level. If a successful saving throw the pudding’s acid.
reduces the infected creature’s level of exhaustion
below 1, the creature recovers from the disease. Area 10: Northeastern Hallway
From Chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
The hallway stretches northeast with one door
on each side. A source of light illuminates the
Area 9: The Mining Supply Room far end of the hallway, where the hall bends to
The room at the end of the hallway is a large the right and out of sight. Blood smears here
square room. Unlike the other rooms, however, suggest that something large was bleeding,
this one has very little on the floor, though heavily, while being dragged, which characters
a puddle rest in the corner against the far with a passive Perception of 13 or higher notice.
wall. Something glints inside the puddle. On a successful DC 12 Intelligence
(Investigation) check, a character can determine
Perception and Passive Perception that a bleeding, dying, or recently dead creature
Whether the DM allows a character to detect all traps was dragged here, likely a feathered beast. DMs
with a DC below the character’s passive Perception may also use passive Investigation scores to
is the DM’s choice. There are quite a few traps on determine what the characters deduce.
the second level of this complex and a character with As they characters approach the end of the
a high enough passive Perception would be able to hallway, they hear a crunching sound. It is the
spot them automatically, unless the DM have such ettin chewing and crushing griffon bones.
discoveries depend on the characters’ actions.
If characters do not declare that they are checking
for traps or looking at the ceiling, it is reasonable for Area 11: Clerks Room
a DM not to inform them of the threats, such as the
pudding on the ceiling, even if their passive Perception
This room is empty, except for some
is high enough. The DMs may wish to clarify the way crumbling stone desks and bones,
they are using passive Perception with their players including a large, distinctive skull.
before dropping a black pudding on them, however! A successful DC 12 Intelligence
(Investigation) check or passive score suggests
Unless the characters bring light of their that this was once some kind of office. Dwarves
own, this room is like the others: pitch black. and those with the Guild Artisan/Merchant or
Darkvision only reveals the room in dim light. Clan Crafter Backgrounds know that this was
These shadows are sufficient to conceal the likely the room where inventories and payroll
black pudding on the ceiling, directly above were tracked.
the door. Unless a character is exceptionally

12 SHAPE OF FOLLY
 A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) or Area 13: Ettin Lair
Intelligence (Investigation) check or passive
score determines that the skull is from the past The room at the end of the hall is filthy,
few months. It was cracked open, its contents wih piles of refuse, dead tree branches, and
eaten. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) bones heaped here and there. The stench is
check identifies it as that of a griffon. Probably, palpable. Two grumbling voices fill the air.
this belongs to the creature that was nesting The ettin who lairs here leaves the room to
in the entrance and it was killed by something investigate if it hears noise in the hallway. The
larger and dragged her in the past month, ettin’s passive Perception is 14. If the characters
explaining the blood smears in the hallway. beat that score with the Dexterity (Stealth)
checks or passive scores, then they
Area 12: Destroyed Archive hear the ettin instead as the pass the two
side rooms (11-12, above). What they hear
Broken stone shelves and a stone desk
is a grumbled argument between the two
are strewn across the floor here. Other
heads about whether to eat a goat or to
official trappings can be seen, such
save it until it gets more savory.
as an entirely rusted bronze inkwell
The room itself contains a massive pile
and crumbled scroll and map cases,
of refuse, which includes broken
their contents rendered as dust.
dwarven stone
A successful DC 12 Wisdom
furniture,
(Perception) check or passive score
dragged
turns up one unbroken scroll case.
here
Opening it reveals three brittle, but
still readable, rolled parchments,
written in Dwarvish. The first paper is
a manifest of mining supplies, along
with two letters, which seems to be
from one dwarf to another.
Dwarven Letters. If anyone
can read Dwarvish, they learn the
following. The first of the two letters
is written from Otgrim Ironaxe to
Hossoc Blackhelm. Otgrim reports on
the tenday’s inventory, noting, “Our
output has quintupled! Karandor’s new
laborers are amazing.”
The second note is from Hossoc to
Otgrim. It reports, “Karandor claims
that the orcs are pressing further north.
He says we’ll need to leave soon, and
quickly. And it’s a good thing, too... we
can’t give his workers enough to do, so
they’ve taken to their own projects. You
should come by and see what they’ve
begun downstairs.”
A successful DC 15 Intelligence
(History) check will allow a character
to remember that there was no orc
incursion in in this area at the time of
the mine’s opening and abandonment,
which of course is a curious realization.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 13
from the nearby rooms, a pile of bones, some Adjusting the Encounter
dead tree branches, ripped from their trunks, Very Weak Party: Replace the crumbling stone
and a collection of round rocks. All of this is golem with two sets of animated armor
covered in filth and ettin droppings. The ettin
Weak Party: Replace the crumbling stone
itself carries its two weapons, a crude battleaxe
golem with a helmed horror
and a cruder morningstar, and also has a
rough pouch on its belt. The ettin does not like Strong Party: Add a flying sword that aids the golem
smallfolk and attacks. It is also too stupid to Very Strong Party: Add an animated
flee. armor that aids the golem
If the party is of a higher level, consider making the
Adjusting the Encounter combat against two crumbling stone golems.
Very Weak Party: Replace the ettin with an
ogre and have the ogre be soundly asleep. Golem Battle Tactics. This is intended to
Weak Party: Replace the ettin with an ogre.
be challenging and is calculated as a Hard or
even Deadly encounter. Remember, however,
Strong Party: Add a giant goat that fights with the ettin. that in the first round probably requires the
Very Strong Party: Add a second giant goat. statue to Dash, so the characters have a round
If the party is of a higher level, consider to attack from range if they wish, which should
using a hill giant couple in place of the Ettin tip the scales to their advantage. The statue
and add giant goats, too, if necessary. also does not leave the room, allowing ranged
attacks from beyond the doorway in the Great
Treasure. The pouch contained one of the Hall. If there are no further interlopers in the
dwarven lodestones, which can be used to open Vault, however, it Dashes back to its station,
the iron door in the Great Hall, leading to the which likely takes it behind total cover from the
Vault. There is also a raw emerald worth 50 gp. doorway.
Area 14: The Vault Crumbling Stone Golem
Once the characters have placed one of the Medium construct, neutral
lodestone keys in the circular indentation Armor Class 9 Hit Points 93 (11d8 + 44) Speed 30 ft.
in the iron door in the Great Hall, the two
STR 19 (+4) DEX 9 (-1) CON 18 (+4)
doors creak open toward them, revealing a
dark chamber. As the door opens, a puff of INT 6 (-2) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 5 (-3)
dusty air issues, suggesting the place beyond Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing
has been sealed for centuries. The room is from Nonmagical Attacks that aren’t adamantine
a vault where the products of the dwarven Damage Immunities Psychic, Poison
mining operations below were stored, though Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion,
now only occasional glint of something Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
dropped or overlooked can be seen.
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 10
Beyond the great door is a large oval room,
30 feet wide and 60 feet long, with four pillars Languages Understands Dwarvish but can’t speak
and a mixture of stone tables and bins, all Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
empty save some scattered rubble. The ceiling is Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any spell or
20 feet high. At the far end is a crumbling stone effect that would alter its form.
statue of a dwarf on a low pedestal, as well as
Magic Resistance. The golem has advantage on saving
an open door, beyond which is a spiral stair cut throws against spells and other magical effects.
into the stone.
Magic Weapons. The golem’s weapon attacks are magical.
Once the characters enter and begin
searching the room, the dwarf statue of Actions:
crumbling stone animates and steps from its Multiattack. The golem makes two slam attacks.
pedestal at the far end of the room. The statue Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
is in fact a crumbling stone golem, enchanted one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage
to defend the vault from interlopers long ago.
The trigger occurs the round after one character Treasure. The room contains scattered coin
enters the room. totaling 300 cp and 200 sp, and 40 gp, as well
as 2 gems of various sorts, worth 20 gp each.

14 SHAPE OF FOLLY
This is scattered randomly, as though it were a ten-foot tall cylindrical pillar of stone with
overlooked or dropped as people cleared the four grotesque dwarven faces on it at about
vault quickly of a much larger sum. four feet high – dwarven height. One face
Once the golem is defeated or disabled, the points at you as you enter, another on the
characters may make their way down the stairs. opposite side, and the other two to the walls
They are five feet wide with a ten-foot ceiling. left and right. Floating on the far side of the
The stairs are shallow, fit for dwarves. It winds room, a few feet off the ground, is a strange,
around to the right and descends thirty feet spherical being with delicate wings and spindly
further into the stone. arms and legs. It is made of brass, but has
a fleshy face, with eyes, nose, and lips.
Second Level: Modron The pillar is twenty feet from the entrance of
the room. There are pressure plates on the floor
Malfunction in a five-foot wide strip between the pillar and
five feet inside the door. The strips are therefore
fifteen feet long, five feet wide. There are similar
Overview pressure plates beneath the other three faces.
The first level of Karandor was as a dwarven Those who circle the room around its perimeter
outpost, abandoned and taken over by local avoid the pressure plates.
fauna. The second level is more complicated. This trap is activated when an intruder who
Originally serving some dwarven purpose, weighs over sixty pounds steps on a hidden
someone — or something — has repurposed pressure plate, releasing a magical gout of flame
the level, filling it with bizarre traps, puzzles, from the strange stone face on the nearby pillar.
and mechanisms. The corrupted modrons The flame shoots out in a two-foot wide, fifteen-
that Karandor summoned devised this foot-long column, centered four feet above the
bizarre place and, since then, fell under the pressure plate just stepped on. Each creature
rule of a more sinister master who arrived in the fire must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving
after the dwarf left, one that the characters throw, taking 1d10 fire damage on a failed
meet on the third and final level.

Area Information
Gradually Changing Architecture. The walls
and floors of Areas 15-16 are mastercrafted
stonework, perfectly symmetrical. In Area
17, the orderly stone gradually gives way
to erratic and eventually chaotic and mind-
bending tessellations, in ever more seemingly
impossible configurations. Even when the
stonework becomes highly irregular, however,
it exhibits the highest level of craftwork.
Light and Sound. Unless otherwise
specified, there are no lights save what the
characters bring. The rooms and halls are
quiet and the air still, though occasionally the
muttering and clanking of some distant modron
echoes through the complex.

Area 15: The Sphere and the Pillar

At the bottom of the stairs, there is a short
hallway that opens up into a semi-spherical
room. The floor is flat, and level with the
short hallway, but the walls and ceiling are
in the shape of a dome. The room itself is 40
feet to the other side, where another hallway
continues. Directly in the center, however, is

SHAPE OF FOLLY 15
saving throw, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
Characters who make a DC 15 Wisdom
(Perception) check spot the pressure plate as
well as a faint discoloration on the tiles in front
of the faces. The detect magic spell reveals an
aura of evocation magic around the pillar.
A successful DC 15 Intelligence
(Investigation) deck delivers the observation
that wedging an iron spike or other object under
the pressure plate would prevent the trap from
activating. A dispel magic spell cast on the pillar
destroys the trap.
Modron! The strange creature is a
monodrone, one of several on this level. Like
the others, this modron is corrupted beyond
repair. It hovers, flapping its wings slowly,
staring sadly at an oily stain on the wall. Its sole
task is to keep the room clean, but it has no
means to remove the stain.
Like the other modrons here, this monodrone
speaks both Modron and Dwarvish, so that it the other end of the hallway, where it meets the
could serve its former master. If the characters next room.
approach, they hear it talking to itself in
Modron. If they speak to it in Dwarvish, it Area 17: A Tetrahedron
begins repeating itself in Dwarvish. In either
language, it says, “Primus deduces… Bzzt… Once the party makes its way through the
But Master Gyax compels… Beep boop. Must hall, they find themselves in a large room.
keep the heavenly solids clean…. Crrrrack… You are struck by two things, one
ever more perfect shapes…. Buzz…” This is all it successively weirder than the next. The first is
says, no matter what the characters do. Should that the room you have entered is a massive
the characters clean the stain, the modron triangular chamber, like a hollowed-out
smiles and then begins to patrol the room, pyramid. The second thing is that there is a
looking for dirt to clean. creature here who is also shaped like a pyramid!
The room is shaped like a pyramid that has the
Area 16: The Hallway Beyond the floor as its base, however, whereas the creature
is shaped like an inverted pyramid, with three
Spherical Room faces, three arms, and six legs. The strange
The hallway beyond resembles all the other being wheels on its heel and charges you,
halls here in this complex. There is a one- muttering something in an unknown language.
inch lip at the threshold into and out of this This is a corrupted, tridrone, which fights
hallway, which marks the limit of the gelatinous to the death. If the tridrone drops to zero hit
cube’s patrol zone. Characters who make a points, it and its weapons disintegrate with a
DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check or have a look of relief.
high enough passive score notice the lip, as Like the other modrons here, this modron
well as the acidic pitting on its hallway side. cannot be healed or helped; it wants only
The hallway extends fifty feet before it to clear the pyramid room, which includes
opens up into a large room. Half-way down the removing the characters.
hallway is a gelatinous cube. The characters
notice the cube only on with a successful DC 15
Wisdom (Perception) check or passive score. The
cube waits, motionless, hoping to surprise the
party. There is no way to pass the cube without
destroying it. There is another one-inch lip at

SHAPE OF FOLLY 17
 The Modrons the tiles, they begin to find a pattern, only to
The modrons inhabiting this place are all malfunctioning,
have it quickly disrupted. It is a somewhat
long since corrupted by the necrotic energies emanating disconcerting experience, suggesting the creator
from the portal below, as well as their extended time was not entirely sane.
away from Mechanus. Except for the tridrone the Drain. In the center of the room is a narrow
characters encounter (and those that might be flying drain, about a foot in diameter and 50 feet deep.
around the bridge in Area 19), they are not hostile, but At the bottom, those with darkvision can just
also not at all communicative. They understand Modron discern what looks to be a lodestone, similar to
and Dwarvish but only mutter about heavenly shapes, the lodestone used to open the door above. How
the master, cleanliness, and satisfying their old and new the characters might retrieve the stone is an
masters. If one dies, it gets a look of relief on its face
exercise is creative problem-solving. Note that
before turning to dust, knowing it returns to Mechanus.
There is no way to cure them of their malfunction except
the lodestone keys are all magnetic, so a clever
by this means – unless the DM decides that the party player might use a rope and one key to retrieve
should have a rogue modron companion, of course! the other.

Once the modron is dealt with, the characters How Many Stones?
see that they have entered from one corner of There are four rooms branching off of the tetrahedron
an equilateral tetrahedron – the shape of a four- room and the iron door has six indentations.
sided die. The three walls around them slant The characters should have access to one or two
upwards to a single apex above. lodestones from the previous floor already and there
There are four hallways leaving this room, is a stone at the bottom of the drain in the middle
of the tetrahedron room. Thus, there are seven
two at the opposite corners, and two in the
total stones in the first two levels, allowing players
middle of the two side walls. The far wall has a
to skip one of the challenges of their choice.
large door in the middle of it. It looks much like
the iron door above with the indentation that The Magical Door. The characters may place
was opened by the magical lodestone, but this the lodestones into the indentations on the
one has six such indentations arranged in a iron door whenever they like, though nothing
circle. happens until the sixth is installed. Once all
Alien Architecture. Unlike the obviously six lodestones are placed into the iron door, it
dwarven architecture above, this area is opens up exactly as the iron door on the first
a mixture of dwarven styles and bizarre, floor did. The lodestones can be removed once
tessellating, geometric patterns, repeating the door has been opened. The door remains
without purpose. Indeed, as your eye traces unlocked until the arcane lock spell is cast on it
again.

Area 18: The Cube of Earth

The first hallway on the left as the characters
enter the tetrahedral room extends twenty
feet to a cube shaped room. There is a
quadrone sitting in the hallway.
The hallway here is ten-by-ten feet and made
of orderly dwarven stone tiles. Half-way down
the hall, a strange, cube-shaped biomechanical
figure sits on the ground, a set of tinker’s tools
arrayed before him.
The Quadrone Tinker. The quadrone
is working on a tiny, wind-up, clockwork
monodrone with an open hatch on its back.
Within the open hatch, dozens of tiny gears
can be seen. As the characters approach,
the quadrone ignores them, focusing intently
on trying to slot a final cog into the complex
mechanism. The cog keeps popping back out,

18 SHAPE OF FOLLY
frustrating the quadrone. It tries and fails Suffocating
repeatedly. After a number of minutes equal to 1 + their
If the characters attempt to assist the Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds), any
quadrone, it allows them, watching intently. buried character begins suffocating. When a creature
More than one character may make the attempt. runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a
If a character succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier
(Sleight of Hand) check to slip the tiny cog into (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it
the delicate mechanism, the quadrone gazes up drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and it can’t regain hit
in amazement and claps its hands. It thereafter points or be stabilized until it can breathe again. For
winds up the monodrone and releases it. The example, a creature with a Constitution of 14 can hold
its breath for 3 minutes. If it starts suffocating, it has
wind-up toy walks around, making a whirring
2 rounds to reach air before it drops to 0 hit points.
sound, the wings on its back flapping. The
quadrone claps and dances in joy. Escaping the Sand. A character who is
The wind-up monodrone toy ceases to walk buried under the sand may attempt to escape.
after 1 minute, at which time the quadrone With a successful DC 15 Strength check, a
offers it to the character that succeeded on character extricates themselves from the sand.
the Sleight of Hand check. The quadrone then A character can also try to dig out an ally,
burps up a pile of tiny cogs and gears and sits which requires a successful DC 15 Strength
down once again, intent on building another (Athletics) check.
one, a task that takes it days of labor. The Once the characters have retrieved the
quadrone is otherwise unresponsive, though lodestone, there is nothing else in this room
it defends itself if attacked. The wind-up for them. After one hour, the trap resets, the
monodrone toy is a tiny inanimate object worth sand magically returning to the ceiling, and the
100 gp. trapdoors close. The chambers where the sand
The Hexahedral Room. Beyond the is kept are ten-foot cubes and are otherwise
quadrone is a 30-foot hexahedral, or cube, empty.
shaped room. At the opposite side of the
room is a stone pedestal with a heavy stone Area 19: The Octahedral Room of Air
box atop it, closed with a latch. If a character
You leave the pyramid room, following the
specifically indicates that they are examining
hallway at one corner to a stone archway.
the ceiling, then, on a successful DC 15 Wisdom
Beyond, a narrow bridge spans a massive, open
(Perception) check, they might notice seams on
space filled with swirling fog and illuminated
the ceiling, suggesting trapdoors. If they do not
with a diffuse, indirect light. Neither floor nor
specifically examine the ceiling, they may notice
wall nor ceiling is visible in any direction.
a few grains of sand on the floor instead.
Winds blow here and there across the bridge.
Sand Trap. The box is not trapped,
Through the mists, you glimpse a lighted
but the lid weighs 25 lbs and thus cannot
archway at the far end of the bridge.
be opened with a mage hand. Within is a
Unbeknownst to the characters, the archway
lodestone for the iron door. There is a glyph
is a portal to a demiplane stolen from the
beneath the lodestone that is only detectable
Elemental Plane of Air. The only walls visible
once the lid is open by a successful DC 15
within this space are the endless, sheer stone
Wisdom (Perception) check or passive score.
faces with the stone archways in them, between
If the stone is lifted, the glyph activates,
which the bridge stretches.
opening compartments in the ceiling, allowing
The Bridge. The narrow stone bridge is five
thousands of pounds of sand to fall into the
feet wide and 150 feet long. There is no railing.
room. If the trap is triggered, anyone in the
All around the bridge are rushing, swirling
room must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving
clouds of fog and mist, though the characters
throw or take 1d6 bludgeoning damage and
can still see fairly clearly at least 60 feet, thanks
be knocked Prone. Anyone prone beneath the
to an ambient, indirect light diffuse throughout
falling sand is Restrained. The sand all falls in
this place. The winds blow and buffet the
the round in which the trap is triggered, after
characters as they stand on the narrow ‘bridge,’
which time those beneath it are Blinded and
though not enough to knock them off.
Deafened as well.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 19
 If a character moves out on the bridge, they Adjusting the Encounter
feel the wind but are in no danger of falling just Very Weak Party: Replace the air elemental with four
yet. After they have traveled fifty feet, however, monodrones. They too will opt to attempt to Shove
a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check the characters off the bridge rather than do damage.
reveals a distinct form moving within the clouds
Weak Party: Replace the air elemental with
of mist and fog. two monodrones and a quadrone. They too
will opt to attempt to Shove the characters
The Shoving Rules off the bridge rather than do damage.
Instead of making an attack roll, you make a
Strong Party: The air elemental has all of its Hit Points.
Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s
Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) Very Strong Party: The air elemental has all of
check (the target chooses the ability to use). If its Hit Points and also uses its Whirlwind Action
you win the contest, you either knock the target on any characters standing on the bridge first.
prone or push it 5 feet away from you. If the party is of a higher level, consider making the
The air elemental has a Strength of 14, so it rolls combat against two air elementals at full Hit Points.
a 1d20+2 contested by the character’s Dexterity Note that the goal of this encounter is not to
(Acrobatics) or Strength (Athletics) check. do damage, but to present the players with
the twin challenges of eliminating the foes and
The Elemental. The shape is an air getting back onto the bridge after falling.
elemental and it attacks! If the character
did not notice the shape, then the elemental Falling from the Bridge. It is likely that one
gets advantage on its first attempt to shove. or more characters will be knocked from the
It charges any character on the bridge and bridge. They fall away at normal falling speed,
attempts to knock them off. This is no normal the bridge receding from sight, disappearing
air elemental, however. On each of its turns, the into the fog and mist above them. As they fall,
air elemental uses its action to try to shove its they see a bridge below them and on the bridge
targets off the bridge, rather than damage them. are their companions! The rest of the characters
This air elemental is weakened from being see a figure falling out of the sky above them a
trapped in this Demiplane for centuries. It only few feet away from the bridge. It is their fallen
has half as many hit points as a normal air friend!
elemental, leaving it with 45 Hit Points. If the air If left unattended, they fall past the bridge
elemental has successfully knocked a character indefinitely at 500 feet/round. If they are pulled
off the bridge, it thereafter ignores them, above the bridge and hit it, they sustain 10d6
focusing on the other characters on the bridge, falling damage, rather than 20d6, due to the
until all on the bridge have been knocked off. lower gravity of this demiplane. If a falling
Once all the visible characters are falling, the person strikes another creature, the faller and
air elemental retreats and does not return for creature struck split the damage. A character
1 hour. The air elemental does not pursue the may make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to
characters through either stone arch. avoid getting hit by a faller.

20 SHAPE OF FOLLY
 Solving the Gravity Problem At the end of the acid pool, the hallway
So, you’ve fallen off a bridge. What to do?
enters a large room with twenty equally sided
walls. In the middle is a stone pedestal, atop
Characters could try to throw a rope to the character. of which sits a bowl of water in which one can
They could tie one end to the bridge, perhaps, causing
find a lodestone. A monodrone is here listing
the falling person to pendulum swing under the
bridge and back up the other side. If they let go as prime numbers in Dwarvish. It ignores the
they are heading up, they will fly all the way back up party members, unless there are 1, 3, 5, or 7 of
to the previous bridge and hover there for a second, them, in which case it begins hopping excitedly
where they can grab a rope or a hand. Another and repeating the number over and over. The
solution might be to cast feather fall on the falling monodrone loves anything to do with primes
creatures, or fly, or levitate, or gaseous cloud, etc. but is otherwise uncommunicative.
This situation invites players to come up with creative
solutions. Some tables might use rope work and Area 21: The Dodecahedron of Fire
calculate force and vectors. Others might use magic You pass through the archway at the back-
creatively. Still others might have a Fly speed and simply
right corner of the tetrahedron, walking down
go out and grab the falling person. Still, some players
dislike this sort of puzzle solving element in their game a hallway for sixty feet to a right turn. After
and others simply struggle to come up with a way to the turn, forty feet down, the hallway ends
solve the problem. In such cases, the DM can opt to at a doorway. There is a thin coat of slippery
allow the players to make Intelligence checks, DC 15 oil on the floor of the hallway between you
(or even as low as 10 if the DM would like to move and the door, making the passage difficult.
things along). On a success, the DM could offer one or Upon stepping into the area covered in oil,
more of the above ideas toward solving the problem. characters must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving
throw or fall prone. Scraping the oil before
At the end of the bridge, there is another
stepping into it reveals a subtle glyph carved in
stone arch. Beyond is a room shaped like an
the stone. Unless the oil is removed, however,
octahedron, recognizable by gamers as an
only a character using the detect magic spell or
eight-sided die. On the floor beyond the arch
similar effect can see the glyph.
is a small stone pedestal with another of the
Fire Trap. Once a character steps onto the
distinctive lodestones hovering on a cloud of air.
oiled floor, they trigger the glyph concealed
Area 20: The Icosahedron of Water beneath the thin coating of oil, which causes
a wall of flame to erupt from the wall directly
The first hallway on the right as the characters behind the characters, where the hallway made
enter the tetrahedral room extends straight the right turn. The flame immediately begins to
for 60 feet before reaching a doorway. move down the hallway of oil.
Along the length of the hallway the floor The wall of flame stretches floor to ceiling,
drops ten feet and the space is filled with a wall to wall, and moves down the hallway
pool of acid, though it looks like water. through the oiled area. Characters who have
Five feet into the hallway, the floor drops not yet entered the oiled hallway can attempt
ten feet and stays there for the length of the a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a success,
hallway. There is a clear liquid filling the lower they jump back down the hallway toward the
area of the hallway up to a level about two feet tetrahedral room and avoid the fire damage
below the floor, making it eight feet deep. entirely. On a failure, they take 1d10 fire
Acid Pool. The liquid looks like water but damage as the thin wall of flame passes over
is in fact a scentless and colorless acid. If a them and down the hall.
creature touches the acid, they take 1d4 acid The wall of flame then moves down the
damage. Partial immersion in the acid causes hallway at a speed of forty feet per round. If a
2d6 acid damage per round and total immersion character in the hallway attempt escape the
causes 2d10 acid per round. fire through the open doorway, they must make
How the characters decide to traverse this a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw to run to the
obstacle is up to them. Flying, floating on a doorway in time to avoid the fire. If they fail,
makeshift raft, using pitons and rope to climb they fall prone and end their movement for the
above the acid along the wall, or sending a round. If the thin wall of flame reaches them,
familiar are all viable options. the characters take 1d10 fire damage.

SHAPE OF FOLLY 21
 Once the fire wall reaches the wall at the
end of the hallway, the fire goes out. For one Level Three: The
round, fresh oil oozes out of the stone as the Beholder’s Lair
trap resets. At the beginning of the subsequent
round, if there are still characters in the oiled This level is, effectively, one large chamber
hallway, the wall of fire reappears back at the with seven small side chambers branching
beginning of the hall and moves down the off of it. The modrons built it, or rebuilt it,
hall again. This repeats every other round, for to resemble their second master on this
as long as there are characters in the oiled plane, one who arrived after the dwarves
hallway. departed, and who was drawn by the
Dodecahedron Room. Through the doorway prospect of tireless, perfectly obedient
is a room with twelve equally sized panels for workers in the modrons. It was a beholder
walls, floor, and ceiling, forming a 12-sided by the name of Gyaximus Arnesondratus.
space. The hallway enters at the bottom of this The Planar Portal. The central, topmost
strangely shaped room and faces a plain stone “tentacle” of the chamber contains the tiny
pedestal, atop of which is a lodestone. extraplanar portal – a crack in reality, as it
Sitting behind the pedestal is a duodrone were, gently emanating planar power – that
carrying a jug of oil and a cloth bearing a generated the adamantine in the first place.
geometric pattern. The jug of oil is a decanter And it was the deposit of this adamantine
of endless oil, which it uses periodically to refill that brought the dwarven wizard Karandor to
an oil reservoir for the hallway trap. The cloth this place. It also allowed him to summon the
is a cloth of oil absorption, which is uses to modrons, but the corrupt nature of this fissure
clean any oil that ends up in the dodecahedron also explains why the modrons went haywire.
room. When someone enters, it attempts to Finally, the corrupting influence of the fissure
wipe any oil fromt hem using the cloth. If also was too much even for the beholder,
spoken to, the duodrone speaks in Modron and eventually leading it to attempt to gain the
Dwarvish saying, “Oil the hallway and keep power of undeath and failing, leaving it as an
the dodecahedron clean…oil the hallway and undead shadow of its former self.
keep the dodecahedron clean…” It becomes The tale of this place and these creatures is
distressed if the party prevent sit from cleaning available via documents the characters can find
them or the dodecahedron, but does not attack, after the combat, should they choose to search
instead cleaning up after them. for and examine such things.
The character or characters who have made
it to this room must now figure out how to get Area 23: The Beholder’s Central
back without activating the trap, or they must Eye
simply weather the thin wall of flame. Once the
At the bottom of the stairs, there is a doorway
last character leaves the hallway, the duodrone
that opens up into a large cylindrical room
remains in the room and pours the decanter
with a fifty-foot high ceiling. Around the
into a small slot in the wall, refilling the trap’s
perimeter of the room, 20 feet up in the air,
reservoir.
are 7 hallways, each 10-by-10 feet, extending
to what look to be small rooms beyond.
Area 22: The Stairs Down There are stacks of crates here and there
in the room, as well as several ladders. An
Once the characters have acquired six awful odor of rotting flesh fills the air here.
lodestones, they can open the magically sealed The entrance to each of these hallways is 20
door in the tetrahedron room. Beyond is a feet above the floor of the chamber, ten feet tall.
landing and another stone stair descending The ceiling of the main room is a further 20 feet
once more. The stair is identical to the one beyond the hallways’ ceilings.
that brought the characters to this floor. Scattered on the ground of the cylindrical
chamber are stacks of various crates, most
likely supplies scavenged by the modrons from
the levels above and given to their new master.
There are also old ladders that reach up to
each of the hallways, installed for the sake

22 SHAPE OF FOLLY
of the non-flying tridrones that once served Some suggested strategies
the beholder. These crates and ladders could for DMs in this fight
allow characters to be on the same level as the
Though once a brilliant mind and threatening strategist,
beholder, at least, and perhaps lead one of them
the beholder zombie is now a shadow of its former
to attempt to jump and grab the creature! self. As such, it does not take a particularly complex
strategy toward the combat with the characters. It will,
Adjusting the Encounter however, remain at its current altitude, a bit over 20
Very Weak Party: Replace the beholder feet off of the floor of the cylindrical room, sending the
zombie with a spectator. occasional eye ray down at the characters on its turn.
Weak Party: Replace the beholder zombie with a If the characters become overly frustrated with the
spectator and a dwarven zombie that rises from beholder zombie’s inaccessibility to melee combat, the
beneath some crates when combat begins. DM might decide to bring the beholder zombie down
Strong Party: Add a dwarven zombie that rises for a Bite attack. Recognize, however, that a group of
from beneath some crates when combat begins. adventurers can easily overcome even the toughest
of foes when those foes are alone and surrounded.
Very Strong Party: Add three dwarven zombies that
rise from beneath some crates when combat begins. If DMs recognize in advance that the environment
will prove a frustration for the characters, the
If the party is of a higher level or is very large, DM could always lover the hallways, so that the
consider using a beholder rather than a beholder beholder zombie hovers only, say, ten feet up.
zombie. Perhaps it hadn’t conducted the ritual to
attempt to attain the Undeath it seeks just yet! If, on the other hand, the characters are making
quick work of the beholder zombie, the DM should
If the DM would prefer to have a mad, monologuing feel free to have a few dwarven zombies, simply
big bad guy, feel free to substitute a gauth for the to spice up the combat. If you do introduce some
beholder zombie, though do recognize that the of these zombies and are worried that they might
gauth is suited only for parties evaluated as Strong or overwhelm the party, have them shamble out of
stronger, according to the APL level chart. The gauth the side passages and fall 20 feet, thus suffering 2d6
would have been drawn by the energies emanating falling damage, before they engage in combat.
from the fissure, which it consumes for food, as a
substitute for the magical energies it most prefers.
If the party has one or more clerics, the DM Area 25 (rooms 1-7): The Eye
might also opt to substitute the gauth, so Chambers
as not to have the big boss battle largely
trumped by a successful Turn Undead use. The rooms are described left to right as one
enters, moving clockwise. These rooms are
Once one or more of the characters have 20’ cubes. The hallways enter these small
entered the chamber and have begun to look rooms five feet above the floor of the room.
around, the occupant and former master of this
level arrives, floating out of the furthest passage Room One
from the entryway. It is a beholder zombie! It is The dining room, where once the modrons
spherical, five feet across, with seven tentacular would bring dead rats and other creatures
appendages, though only four of the eye stalks harvested from above for the beholder to
seem active. Its one large eye is opaque and eat. Now, however, there is nothing but
sunken in. Its teeth are decayed, with a rotten bones and the trace of rotting flesh here.
tongue lolling out of its mouth loosely. It enters
the cylindrical chamber and remains at the Room Two
same altitude, which puts its underside about
A room containing a floor to ceiling glass
22 feet off of the floor of the cylindrical room.
mirror, in a bronze frame. It is 10 ft wide,
Once it has entered the main room, the
20 ft tall. It appears to be very old and is
beholder zombie attacks immediately and
now badly cracked, as if something had
fights until it is destroyed Once the threat or
struck it, hard. In reality, the normally
threats have been eliminated, the danger here is
vain Gyaximus destroyed it in anger once
effectively over. The characters are now free to
its lich ritual went astray and the creep of
search the side rooms in this, the final area of
undeath began to spread across its form.
this complex.

24 SHAPE OF FOLLY
SHAPE OF FOLLY 25
Room Three What to do with a planar fissure?
Empty save for a sturdy wooden This adventure does not dictate what can or should
and iron banded chest here. It is be done with the portal. DMs should feel free to use
it as a hook for later stories, or perhaps tie it into
unlocked and untrapped.
larger goings on in their world. Alternatively, the
The chest. It contains 5 large rubies worth characters can ignore it completely and leave.
50 gp each, for a total of 250 gp, and 200 gp
Here are some ways in which the fissure could be used.
in coin, as well as a magic helm. It is a helm of
First of all, arcane casters could use some of the texts
comprehend languages.
the beholder left behind to conduct dangerous rituals
Room Four with the energies of the fissure, to whatever end the
players and DM might find interesting. Or divine magic
As you enter, they see an empty room users or warlocks could use the fissure as a means of
of dressed stone, with clumps of silvery contacting their higher powers. Alternatively, with
crystalline deposits the size of a fist forming the presence of living beings nearby once again, the
in places across the floor, wall, and ceiling. portal could begin to grow and even become large
This is the room that contains the source enough for characters to pass into the Astral Plane
– or for something to pass into the Material Plane.
and cause of all of this: the extraplanar
fissure. These deposits are new formations of
adamantite, the ore used to forge adamantine Room Five
weapons and armor. Prior to the arrival of the This room contains the beholder’s library.
dwarves, this fissure slowly grew adamantite The dozen or so tomes herein concern ancient
deposits for centuries. The dwarves seemed to lore, much on alchemy, some on dwarven
have mined it all, however, though the fissure history, mostly in indecipherable tongues. Four
has begun creating deposits anew. books in particular lay open, suggesting that
The Planar Fissure. The fissure itself is a Gyaximus the beholder was studying them
thin ribbon, a foot long and an inch across, together, before his transformation. They are
floating in the air about three feet off of the floor in Abyssal, Infernal, and Deep Speech, and
here. It is faintly glowing with a sickly, pale all concern lichdom and becoming a death
gray light. The energies are a mix of negative tyrant. The DM may decide to include volumes
energy from the Negative Plane of Existence and tomes of a particular nature that serve a
and raw planar aether ebbing and flowing from larger story or the lore of their own campaign.
the Astral Sea. These energies leaking into the One of the volumes was written by Karandor
Material plane interact with the stone around Blackhelm himself and has not aged at all. It
the fissure to grow adamantite deposits. is in fact an enduring spellbook. In addition to
The fissure itself is too small for the some spells, it includes his notes and research.
characters to enter and of a nature that the Below are some relevant excerpts, all written in
characters can do little to affect it. The dispel a cramped Dwarvish hand.
magic spell has no effect on this portal, for “…while prospecting in the Starmetal Hills,
example. What the characters decide to do I found what I’d been looking for! The largest
about the slowly leaking portal is up to them. deposit of adamant I’ve ever seen. There
The characters can scrape the few crystalline must be thousands of pounds of the stuff, in
deposits from the stone walls and bring them crystalline deposits… I’ll be rich! I’ll have to hire
with them. Alas, this is not pure adamantine a few good dwarves to help, but I don’t want
ore, so it is worth 10gp per lb. To calculate knowledge of the location to get around…”
how much adamantine ore can be recovered “…My brother Hossoc brought his
here, use this formula: 10 lbs x the number of muleheaded friend Otgrim to help, gods be
characters. Thus, if there are five characters, damned… He wouldn’t know adamant from
they would be able to recover 50 lbs of the ore copper, the dolt… What’s more, we’ve mined
here, which is worth 500 gp in total, or 100 gp enough of the adamant crystals to find…
per character. something. The source of the deposit, I think. I
must study it….”
“..This is amazing! This is some kind of
planar fissure. And the energies leaking out of it
are what stimulate the adamant crystal deposits

26 SHAPE OF FOLLY
to grow! I can feel the power emanating from kind of cypher or shorthand, but the characters
it… I must find some way to harness it. To my able to read Deep Speech are able to discern the
books…” following:
At this point, the handwriting becomes much “…stupid shortling challenged the great
more of an erratic scrawl. Gyaximus Arnesondratus! His last mistake…”
“…They keep looking at my discoveries, at my “…these rogue modrons are able workers.
adamant. They shan’t have them. I must send They have created a suitably magnificent living
them away. But… who will continue the work space for me, at least. Too bad they don’t taste
on the mine? I cannot do it by myself…” good.”
“I HAVE DONE IT! I have summoned the “This extraplanar anomaly is fascinating!
perfect workers to serve me. I can build my I believe it connects to the Negative Plane of
empire here. My new servants need neither pay Existence. I could channel a huge amount of
nor sleep. And they will never, ever betray me. Negative Energy here…”
Oh such things I shall accomplish… Hossoc “Lichdom! I shall ascend and become unto a
and Otgrim are already suspicious, however. I god!”
must send them away… I shall tell them a lie, “Ritual failed…Mind….slipping….”
that the orcs are marching north. The idiots will
believe it…” Room Six
The last entry is written with a wildly irratic This room served as an alchemy lab in which
hand. Gyax conducted his research. There are three
“Those fools in Waterdeep gave me a pittance potions of healing and a jar of Keoghtom’s
for my motherlode! THEY said my adamant was ointment with 4 doses. A duodrone stands
impure, too brittle. Well… THEY will pay. Pay, here overseeing a monodrone, who carefully
I say! I shall return to the mine and direct my cleans and organizes the various alchemical
servants to make the place into a fortress! And substances. The monodrone ignores anyone
I shall devise a way to summon more powerful who enters, focusing on its task, while the
creatures to me, to aid me in my plan to get duodrone mutters to itself, in Dwarvish,
revenge on those fools!” “Supervise the lesser, then polish the mirror….
This is the final entry. Nothing more was Supervise the lesser, then polish the mirror…”
written here. It is badly injured, appearing to have taken
Another of the volumes, however, is Gyax’s a fall at some point. It has 1 hit point.
research, written mostly in Deep Speech. If
characters read this (perhaps with the help of
a comprehend languages spell), they learn the
tale of the beholder. They are written in some

SHAPE OF FOLLY 27
Room Seven Treasure
This room is empty save for a set of rusted Total value of all coin and gems: 828 gp, plus
shackles and manacles, suggesting this was the adamantine ore, the value of which is
once a room the beholder kept prisoners. calculated as follows: The ore is worth 10 gp
per lb. To calculate how much adamantine
ore can be recovered here, use this formula:
Rewards 10 x the number of characters. Thus, if there
are five characters, they would be able to
This section collects all of the rewards recover 50 lbs of the ore here, which is worth
characters can gain in this adventure. 500 gp in total, or 100 gp per character.
Magic items include an enduring spellbook,
a helm of comprehend languages, as well as
Combat Experience three potions of healing and a jar of Keoghtom’s
Giant Spiders: 400 xp ointment with four doses.
Giant Toads: 400 xp
Swarm of Rats: 100 xp Cloth of Oil Absorption
Black Pudding: 1100 xp Wondrous Item, uncommon
Ettin: 1100 xp This one-foot-square gray cloth is a mundane
Crumbling Stone Golem: 1800 xp cloth in all ways but one; it can absorb an
Gelatinous Cube: 450 xp endless amount of oil without becoming
Tridrone: 100 xp oily. The cloth is highly flammable.
Air Elemental: 1800 xp
Beholder Zombie: 1800 xp Clockwork Modron
Total combat xp: 9050 xp Wondrous Item, common
This tiny clockwork toy resembles a
monodrone. When wound up and placed on
Non-combat Experience the ground, the toy moves 10 feet across the
ground on each of your turns in a direction
In this adventure, xp awards are you choose. Its wing flap and it makes
suggested for overcoming the many clicking and whirring noises as it moves.
environmental challenges and traps.
Decanter of Endless Oil
Suggested awards are as follows: Wondrous Item, uncommon
Green Slime: 25 xp This stoppered flask sloshes when shaken, as if
Dome room fire trap: 50 xp it contains oil. The decanter weighs 2 pounds.
Tetrahedral room drain challenge: 50 xp You can use an action to remove the stopper
Cubic earth room sand challenge: 200 xp and speak the command word, which causes
Octahedral air room challenge: 200 xp 1 gallon of oil to pour out of the flask. The oil
Dodecahedral fire room challenge: 200 xp stops pouring out at the start of your next turn.
Icosahedral acid hall challenge: 200 xp.
Putting together the story of Karandor Enduring Spellbook
Blackhelm and his mine: 125 xp Wondrous Item, common
Total non-combat xp: 1050 xp This spellbook, once belong to the dwarven
wizard Karandor Blackhelm, along with
Total xp available: 10,100xp anything written on its pages, can’t be damaged
by fire or immersion in water. In addition,
the spellbook doesn’t deteriorate with age.
Karandor’s spellbook contains the following
spells: identify, detect magic, tenser’s floating
disk, alarm, arcane lock, knock, locate object,
and conjure minor elementals.

28 SHAPE OF FOLLY
Helm of Comprehending Languages
Wondrous Item, uncommon
While wearing this helm, you can use
an action to cast the comprehend
languages spell from it at will.

Keoghtom’s Ointment
Wondrous Item, uncommon
This glass jar, 3 inches in diameter, contains
1d4 + 1 doses of a thick mixture that
smells faintly of aloe. The jar and
its contents weigh 1/2 pound.
As an action, one dose of the
ointment can be swallowed or applied
to the skin. The creature that receives
it regains 2d8 + 2 hit points, ceases to be
poisoned, and is cured of any disease.

Appendix: Monster Statistics

Crumbling Stone Golem
Medium construct, neutral
Armor Class 9 Hit Points 93 (11d8 + 44)
Speed 30 ft.

STR 19 (+4) DEX 9 (-1) CON 18 (+4)

INT 6 (-2) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 5 (-3)

Damage Immunities Psychic,

Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and
Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
that aren’t adamantine
Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion,
Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Understands Dwarvish but can’t
speak
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any
spell or effect that would alter its form.
Magic Resistance. The golem has advantage on
saving throws against spells and other magical
effects.
Magic Weapons. The golem’s weapon attacks
are magical.

Actions:
Multiattack. The golem makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage

SHAPE OF FOLLY 29