Part 1 | Plot Hooks

The Empty Manor

Part 1 | Plot Hooks

Illicit Goods

The manor has been recently abandoned but it is rumoured to harbour some illicit goods (M12), the PC's could be either sent by a gang or business to retrieve the drugs in order to sell it themselves, or be sent by the a city watch or similar in order to secure the drugs and safely dispose of them.

Instead of using these illicit drugs (or in addition to), the PC's could be sent by a more magical organisation in order to retrieve some dark magical item (The Obsidian Dagger in M9a) that's been stirring up some dark presence, along with confiscating the necromancy materials in M16. They also could've been sent in order to investigate the weird time mishaps in the area (M14 and M15), of which are put and end to by removing the obsidian dagger from the house.

Cultist Activities

In this hook have the manor be more populated by cultists, maybe a few at the entrance in order to give the players the opportunity to roleplay their way in and go undercover inside. Maybe they could be part of another cult or the city watch and need to put an end to the cult activities. In this scenario it would be recommended to put some cultist fanatics outside the building as guards and to scatter some inside, 1d6 cultists inside M5.

When using this plot hook it is recommended to read the whole description of the interior ahead and change bits to fit the story, such as having the journal in M14 and M15 be the cult leaders journal, where in M14 is him starting out and M15 be the present day cultist, using a necromancer (VGM, page 217) to represent him (if encountered). Also allude to the fact that this is by no means the boss, simply the owner of the manor who was manipulated to join (as some of the material components in the cellar under the library allude to a higher level spell caster). Also equip the highest level spellcaster there with the pouch of necromancy (See Part C)

Part 2 | Areas of the Manor

The following areas correspond to the labels on map 1.1 and 1.2. This building has multiple floors connected by staircases and secret doors. The areas denoted as MX represent interior rooms, and EX represent outside areas. The following features apply to the mansion:

The rooms have a 15 ft high ceiling, the foyer (M1) is 40ft
The balcony area (M10) has a 25 ft high ceiling
The majority of rooms have outwards facing windows unless stated others, these are all locked and require a master key, or a successful DC 18 Dexterity check with thieves' tools or forced open with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check
The doors are make of solid oak, most are unlocked unless they state otherwise
All the candles/torches are still alight, a DC 10 Intelligence (Arcana) reveals that these are lit by the continual flame spell

E1. Entrance

The entrance to the manor is a gravel path stretching as wide as the house with a centrally located fountain 30 ft from the large front doors.

E2. Patio

This area represents the exterior patio and connects to rooms M3 and M7, the area is cobbled over but is otherwise sparse and empty.

E3. Garden

The garden of the manor has 3 large bushes as shown on map 1.1 on page 7, and a small lake, also nothing of interest here.

M1. Foyer

This is the main entrance to the building when the characters enter, read out the following paragraph, or just convey this information in your own way.

The large ornate doors open to reveal an expansive foyer with 4 marble pillars and a chandelier adorning the centre of the room. Two parallel staircases donning red carpets leading to the second level, the landing wraps around the upper level. Four additional doors decorate the room, two to the south, one to the east and one to the west. There is also a small door betwixt the two southerly doors leads to a small privy.

This room contains the following features:

Four marble pillars stand near each corner, every pillar has a wooden exterior
Two large symmetrical staircases lead up to area MX on the first floor
There are four exits from this room, starting east and running clockwise the doors lead to rooms M5, M9, M4, and M2

Privy. The door directly opposite the double door entrance leads to a small privy.

Under the Stairs. One of the closets under the stairs leads to a small cloak room, full of black trenchcoats and various outdoorsy shoes. The second staircase has no visible entry, and can be opened up by a lever inside one of the pillars detailed below.

Marble Pillars. One of the marble pillars has a false panel at head height, this can be revealed with a general DC 15 Investigation, this is reduced to a DC 12 if the pillars are the object of the investigation. Inside is a lever which opens up the closed cupboard under the stairs. An audible click can be heard.

M2. Lounge

This room feels eerily empty and yet still lived in, it contains the following features:

There are two comfy red armchairs facing an unlit fireplace with a stack on untouched logs adjacent to it, there is an ottoman in-between the two armchairs
A lit candle sconce flanked by two paintings, the first of which shows a mountain vista, the second of which shows a beautiful two story manor (as seen from a north west direction).
The table in the south-west corner is barren, it contains nothing of note.

Painting. A passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 12 or higher, or a direction question about the painting reveals that the manor in the painting represents the exact manor the PCs are currently in. A DC 15 Investigation or Perception reveals that there are small dots on the painting through windows representing any players current locations. A detect magic spell or similar reveals an aura of Divination magic around the painting. If the painting is removed from the house it reverts to a plain white canvas and the enchantment is has is gone permanently.

Treasure. The ottoman has a false top, inside there are 2 red gemstones (worth 100 gp each). A detect magic or similar spell will reveal a faint aura of transmutation magic, a DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) reveals that they are not fully enchanted and are thusly unable to carry out whatever their intended purpose was.

M3. Dining Room

A large dining table sits in the centre of the room surrounded by 8 cushioned chairs and one throne-like chair at the head of the table. 1 potted plant sits in each respective corner of the room. A large chandelier hangs in the centre of the room.

Chandelier. The candles in the chandelier are lit by the continual flame spell and thusly cannot be put out.

M4. Kitchen

The kitchen has fresh food scattered over the prep table. The cookers are currently lit the pans and skillet above with a slight burning sensation emanating from one of the pots.

Burning Hobs. On top of the two sets of cookers are two pans and one skillet, one of the pots is covered and smells like burning, inside are the ingredients of a stock burning away.

Part 2 | Manor Layout

M5. Entertainment Room

This room contains the following features:

A fully stocked bar in the northern side of the room, with four slightly ajar bar stools in a row
Two tables with cloth tops each surrounded four bar stools

Bar. Under the bar are 15 bottles of premium wine (worth 15 gp each).

Bar Stools. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check will reveal that the bar stools were recently in use.

Behind the Bar. Under the rug is a trapdoor leading down to area BX, this can be found by a successful DC 12 Investigation or by a direct search for what is under the rug. Upon touching the rug it animates to become a rug of smothering. Through the trapdoor is a cellar that is around 20 x 10 ft, inside are lots of barrels of beer, mead, cider and a few smaller of aged wine. There is a secret tunnel inside one of the barrels that requires a DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation), or direction inquiry to find. The tunnel leads to a small room around 10 x 15 ft under the library.

M6. Map Room

This rooms main feature is the large table with a map of the sword coast on it, underneath are smaller maps of some large cities, such as: Waterdeep, Neverwinter, Luskan, Baldur's Gate, and Silverymoon. The shelves in the room are filled with ink and paint pots. The desk against the western wall is under a large window and has a lot of cartographers equipment. Inside the chest is a collection of more expensive paints, rarer colours that are harder to acquire (worth 40 gp in total but weighing about 80 lbs in total)

M7. Corridor

Six stone statues lie on the eastern wall of this corridor, all have red garnets (worth 100 gp each) in their eyes unless stated otherwise, all stones are easily removable. The six statues look like so:

Statue 1. This statue depicts an elderly man equipped with a stone walking cane, a DC 18 Investigation will reveal a small stone switch near the top of the cane, activating it will cause the statue to shift to the side revealing a small lockbox underneath where the statue was. Inside the box is an altered alchemy jug which can only produce beer, wine and whiskey (1 quart)

Statue 2. This statue depicts and elderly woman.

Statues 3 and 4. These statues depict both a knight in armor, if a character tries to meddle with either statue they both animate, revealing themselves to both be reinforced animated armor (neither statue has actual gemstones in its eyes)

Statues 5 and 6. These statues both depict hunters, each fully equipped with a wooden longbow and a full quiver of arrows (easily removable). It would appear that these statues were simply to hold bows for use in the garden.

M8. Study

This large cosy office contains the following features:

A bearskin rug in the centre of the room
A large armoire against the northern wall, full of additional books, with a small box on a top shelf with some silvered reading glasses (worth 200 - 300 gp to the right buyer)
A small chest against the eastern wall
A relatively small desk and wooden chair towards the southern wall
A deer head mounted on the southern wall, the eyes of which follow the players (An illusory trick of the mind)

Chest. The chest is just full of additional books that couldn't fit on the library shelf. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) reveals that there are a lot of books to do with necromancy, a DC 18 Intelligence (Investigation) or if a character spends 2 hours looking through the books there is a page ripped out of a book called Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, the page is at the start of an entry on demons, just before an entry about the demogorgon. A DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) lets a player work out the page missing is about baphomet, this DC is lowered by PC's who have had experience with a lot of demons or a background as a cultist etc...

M9. Library

The library follows a spiral pattern as shown on Map 1.1, the bookcases are all fully stocked but done so messily, with no organisation to the books, there are a lot of books on a variety of topics, including a fair few on demons. A successful DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation) (or a DC 12 if they are looking for specifically books on Baphomet) reveals that a book on Baphomet on the western wall unlocks a secret staircase leading down to a small room (10 x 15 ft) see M9 below

M9a: Secret Lair. This small cellar has the following features:

A large pentagram drawn in black chalk, with unlit white candles on each of the 5 points
A large painting of Baphomet, behind which is a small tunnel to the cellar under M5
An alchemists table, reasonably well stocked
A dark black chest with red lining

Alchemists Table. Amongst the various glassware and apparatus are four potions:

A bright red viscous liquid (Potion of Greater Healing)
An amber liquid, suspended in which are: a scorpion's tail, an adder's fang, a dead spider, and a beating tiny heart (Potion of Longevity)
A thick black liquid with white bubbles (Potion of Necrotic Resistance)
A yellow liquid streaked with black, the potion is constantly swirling without being touched (Potion of Speed)

Dark Chest. Inside the chest is an obsidian dagger with a red ruby pommel and a dark dyed leather hilt (see Part C), which pulsates with a powerful energy, opening the chest will cause a black rift to open in the foyer (M1) allowing a armanite (MTF, page 131) to step through, along with 2 bulezau, awaiting the PC's, after the creature enter this plane the rift closes. When encountered the Armanite tells the PC's in abyssal that they have meddled where they shouldn't have and they will face the consequences, the players can try to negotiate, then roll initiative.

M10. Balcony

This balcony holds very little of interest, it is just to connect all the rooms on the upper floor together.

M11. Reading Room

This small room hosts 2 comfy red armchairs around a fireplace (connected to the floor below, M2), a hat and lantern lie on top of the fireplace. The room also contains a desk with a wooden chair and 3 bookshelves, of which are poorly organised and arranged.

Desk. The paper on the desk is magical, writing the name of a book present in the library (M9) will cause it to magically float towards the reading room and land carefully on the desk, it phases straight through any closed doors on its way to the desk. A detect magic spell or similar will reveal an aura of transmutation magic around the desk and the books (The paper is enchanted to make use of a telekinesis like spell).

M12. Storage Room

This room contains a large volume of crates and barrels, and a couple of wooden trays, the latter of which are empty. The crates, many contain empty vials or old furniture or leather/ cotton materials. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) or 3 hours spent looking through all the crates reveals a small box (10" by 6") full of vials holding a green liqueur, a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) or Intelligence (Nature) will identify this to be "Blight Ichor" (EGW, page 152), an illegal bitter chartreuse concoction which harbors potent psychedelic properties.

There is also an extendable ladder in the north-western corner of the room behind some crates, the ladder appears to be 5 ft and can extend in 5 ft intervals to reach 15 ft of total height (tall enough to reach the ceiling in the rooms in this manor).

M13. Bathroom

This small bathroom with a bath serves the rest of the house, it contains nothing of interest inside.

Part 2 | Manor Layout

M14. Master Bedroom: The Past

Once a character walks more than 5ft into this room (no more than half the party) the door slams behind the characters locking behind them, the door is magically reinforced and cannot be damaged or broken, the same applies for the walls on the northern side. The room contains the following features:

A large new ornate rug occupies the centre of the room, on top of which lies a four poster bed with red sheets and white pillows
A wooden dresser full of decent quality clothes in the north-west corner, and a wooden wardrobe full of the same in the north-east corner
A small table sits beside the bed on the eastern side, inside rests a small journal, see journal below
A small chest with a combination lock lies just in front of the foot of the bed, the four digit code to open the lock is 5762. The chest is fitted out with a lock of trickery (XGE, page 138), the DC to pick the lock is 18, made with disadvantage due to the lock.

Journal. The journal in the bedside table is brand new and blank, writing in these pages will result in the journal in M15 to display the same writing.

Chest. The chest contains: 2 potions of greater healing, a cloak of many fashions (XGE, page 136), and a sacrificial looking vicious dagger. removing items from this chest will cause them to cease to exist in the other room (M15, or wherever they have been moved too), putting it down back in the chest will cause it to reappear in the chest in M15

M14a: Office. This room appears to be an office with the following features:

A small wooden desk and chair, with blank paper scattered all over the top of the desk
A potted plant in the north-east corner
A large humanoid statue of a knight made out of stone
A large moose head nearby the desk on the western wall

Desk. The bottom most desk draw is locked, a successful DC 12 Dexterity check made with thieves' tools or a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check can be used to open the drawer revealing a premium bottle of whiskey (worth 30 gp)

Statue. A detect magic spell or similar will reveal an aura of transmutation magic around the statue. Interacting with the statue, or messing around with the desk will cause it to reveal itself as reinforced animated armor

Part 2 | Manor Layout

M15. Master Bedroom: The Present

A large new ornate rug occupies the centre of the room, on top of which lies a four poster bed with red sheets and white pillows
A wooden dresser full of decent quality clothes in the north-east corner, and a wooden wardrobe full of the same in the north-west corner
A small table sits beside the bed on the western side, inside rests a small journal, see journal below
A small chest with a combination lock lies just in front of the foot of the bed, the four digit code to open the lock is 5762. The chest is fitted out with a lock of trickery (XGE, page 138), the DC to pick the lock is 18, made with disadvantage due to the lock.

Journal. The journal in the bedside table is worn and tattered, if the journal in M14 is untouched then the pages inside read like a boring nobles diary, pertaining to days out and seeing friends, however if the players start to write in the journal in M14 then the journal here will change and reflect that, with dairy now talking about the weird unknown writing appearing in the journal. The players can use this to converse with the author of the journal and with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) they can uncover the passcode to the chest.

Chest. The chest contains: 1 potion of greater healing, a cloak of many fashions (XGE, page 136), and a sacrificial looking vicious dagger, covered in dry blood.

M15a: Office. This room appears to be an office with the following features:

A small wooden desk and chair, with blank paper scattered all over the top of the desk
A potted plant in the north-west corner
A large humanoid statue of a knight made out of stone
A large moose head nearby the desk on the eastern wall

Desk. The bottom most desk draw is locked, a successful DC 10 Dexterity check made with thieves' tools or a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check can be used to open the drawer revealing an empty premium bottle of whiskey, if the bottle has been removed from the other desk in M14a then it does not appear here.

Part 2 | Manor Layout

M16. Master Bedroom Bathroom

Despite appearing to have two entrances the room M16. has the same rules applied as M14 relative to M15, meaning that there are two bathrooms overlaid in the same space, one in the past (Connected to M14), and one in the present (Connected to M15). The room contains a bathtub with an unlit candle (less candle in the present room), and a small replica ship floating in the water. Behind the bath there is a hidden panel revealing a small room behind (M16a), this is on the left side if coming from the past, and on the right if in the present.

M16a. Players arrive in the same room irregardless of coming from the past or present rooms, a detect magic spell or similar reveals a strong transmutation aura around the entire room, an identify spell or similar, or a successful DC 18 Intelligence (Arcana) (Only after a detect magic spell) reveals that this room is time locked and immune to the effects of an time-based magic. The room contains 2 smaller chests and one large chest:

Small Chest 1. This chest is unlocked and contains 2d4 black onyx stones (worth 150 gp each), one clay pot filled with grave dirt, and one clay pot filled with brackish water (These are the spell components for the spell create undead)

Small Chest 2. This chest is also unlocked and contains:

a tiny silver cage (worth 100 gp)
a small pouch containing: small vial of blood, a piece of flesh, and a pinch of bone dust
a small jar with several handfuls of incense (worth a total of 50 gp)
a broken bone wrapped in a square of black silk
an ornate glass eye (worth 100 gp)

All these are material components necessary for necromancy spells, in order: soul cage (XGE, page 165), animate dead, various spells use incense, negative energy flood (XGE, page 163), and clairvoyance

Large Chest. This chest is locked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity made with a set of thieves' tools, or a successful DC 22 Strength (Athletics). If the latter is used the opener of the chest is sprayed with a poisonous gas, they must succeed in a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 8 hours. Inside the chest are the following items:

2 potions of invisibility
1 jacinth (worth 1,000 gp), and one ornately carved bar of silver (worth 100 gp)
A pocket watch of time (See Part C)

The latter are the components to cast astral projection

M17. Bedroom

This large bedroom has the following features:

A large king sized bed with a bedside table on the eastern wall flanked by two large windows
An empty desk in the north-east corner with a wooden chair
A cot in the south-west corner, empty
A door in the south-east corner leading to a walk-in wardrobe

Cot. The cot is empty but a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) reveals this cot was recently used

M18. Guest Bedroom

This room contains a large king sized bed with a small bedside table, and a wardrobe on the southern wall. The wardrobe contains a few expensive clothes a noble would wear and the bedside table has a small book about Waterdeep on it (Volo's Waterdeep Enchiridion, a visitor's guide to the city's splendor)

Part 2 | Manor Layout

Part C | Magic Items

Obsidian Dagger

Weapon (dagger), very rare (requires attunement)

This obsidian dagger has a purplish hue and a bright red glowing ruby at the pommel. You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magical weapon. The damage of this dagger is considered magical for resistance purposes.

Whenever any creature (of a CR > 0, and that is not a construct, plant, or undead) is killed with this blade the inside of the ruby fills up with a magical blood, where every kill fills up an eighth of the ruby, resulting in a total of eight charges, the charges can be expended on a turn using an action to cast the following spells:

Charges	Spell Cast	Spell Level
1	Chill Touch	Cantrip
2	Cure Wounds (Self Only)	1st
2	Arms of Hadar	1st
4	Cloud of Daggers	2nd
6	Hunger of Hadar	3rd
8	Harm	6th

If the owner of the dagger takes a long rest, roll 1d4, that many charges are lost as the blood seeps through the ruby.

Curse. This dagger is cursed with the will of Baphomet. Becoming attuned to this dagger extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed you are unwilling to part with dagger, keeping it on your person at all times.

In addition, while the dagger is on your person, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw whenever you take damage in combat. On a failed save you must attack the creature that damaged you until you drop to 0 hit points or it does, or until you can't reach the creature to make a melee attack against it.

You can break the curse in the usual ways. The dagger then becomes a +1 weapon with no other properties.

Pouch of Necromancy

Wondrous item, major tier, rare

This large pouch fits nicely onto a belt or buckle and looks like a black and purple bag of holding. The pouch is roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep.

The pouch has the ability to let the user retrieve material components from it for Necromancy spells up to 500 gp in value, and as long as the material is not consumed by the spell. The components are stored in an extradimensional space inside the pouch. Only the material components retrieved from the pouch can be returned to the extradimensional space.

Placing a pouch of necromancy inside an extradimensional space created by a Bag of Holding, portable hole, or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane. The gate originates where the one item was placed inside the other. Any creature within 10 feet of the gate is sucked through it to a random location on the Astral Plane. The gate then closes. The gate is one-way only and can't be reopened.

Pocket Watch of Time

Wondrous item, major tier, rare (requires attunement)

This small golden pocket watch fits snugly into a suit breast pocket or any formal attire.

Whilst attuned to the pocket watch the user may force any die roll to be re-rolled. This effect can only be used once per day.

Part 3 | Magic Items

Map 1.1: Manor Downstairs

Map 1.2: Manor Upstairs

Part 4 | New Creature Stat Blocks

Reinforced Animated Armor

Medium Construct, Unaligned

Armor Class 18 (natural armor)

Hit Points 78 (6d8 + 12)

Speed 25 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

16 (+3) 11 (+0) 15 (+2) 1 (-5) 3 (-4) 1 (-5)

Damage Resistances piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison, psychic

Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned

Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 6

Languages —

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Actions

Multiattack The armor makes two melee attacks with its longsword

Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	11 (+0)	15 (+2)	1 (-5)	3 (-4)	1 (-5)

Part 4 | Stat Blocks

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