DEATH

IS ONLY
THE BEGINNING?

Sometimes death is only the beginning of the adventure.

You can sharpen your blade. You can prepare your spells.
But can you return from the dead?

A ONE-SHOT MINI ADVENTURE

 Death is Only the Beginning?

Total party kill. Everyone died.

However, this time death is only the beginning.
The adventurers are brought back from the other side as
undead creatures by an evil necromancer.
Escape the dungeon, fight the other undead experiments,
and find your maker!
You can sharpen your blade. You can prepare your spells.
But can you return from the dead?

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All content © Tove Lund Jorgensen and Erik Jorgensen 2020.

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, LLC. System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.;
Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend,
based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
 DEATH IS ONLY THE BEGINNING?
A ONE-SHOT MINI ADVENTURE
This adventure begins with all of the characters
dying. However, after the characters’ unfortunate
death, they return as undead creatures in a dungeon
located underneath the White Tower.
The characters’ journey from the other side is
the result of the necromancer Heldrian Slhandrik’s
experiments. His goal is to build an undead
army, but he hasn’t fully mastered the dark art of
necromancy yet. Much to Heldrian’s annoyance,
most of the undead he creates are either daft,
deranged, or dangerously unpredictable.
The characters must escape the dungeon’s
dangers, locate their equipment, defeat the
necromancer, and find a way to return to the
realm of the living again.
it begins!
Before starting the adventure, let each player roll
1d20 to determined which undead creature they
will become. The player who rolled the highest
score will return as a ghost. The other players will
play the following monsters in descending order
depending on their roll: Ghast, ghoul, zombie,
and skeleton. Familiars and companion animals
also return as undead creatures, but without any
special abilities or magical powers.
All characters retain their Wisdom and
Intelligence ability scores. For all other ability
scores and skills, use the statistics of the undead
creatures they have become.
As a result of Heldrian’s incomplete knowledge
in necromancy, the characters don’t have any
resistances or immunities mentioned in the
statistics, but they can communicate with each
other in an undead fashion.
it’s alive!
The characters wake up at the same time in
different parts of the dungeon. All of their
weapons and other equipment are gone. Their
clothes and armour are in tatters and useless.
The ghoul and ghast are chained to the walls in
the Ghoul room (Area 1) while the zombie and the
skeleton are in the Skeleton room (Area 4). The
the white towers
The White Towers were originally
constructed by paladins and dragon-riding
champions to keep a vigilant watch for ice
dragons, which had been banished from the
Material Plane. However, the legendary ice
dragons didn’t return to Eastern Farraway,
and over time, the paladin order grew smaller
and smaller before it slowly faded into
obscurity. Today most of the old watchtowers
have crumbled and turned into ruins.
The White Tower claimed by Heldrian has
been used for various purposes throughout
history, including a military outpost, a
monastery, a merchant’s wine storage, and
an astronomy tower.
ghost wakes up close to their mummified body in
the Enbalming room (Area 8). The ghost can pass
through walls and locked doors, which enables
them to find the other characters.
the necromancer’s dungeon
The dungeon is cold and dimly lit with
burning torches. The air is foul. A faint
stench of rot and medical chemicals reaches
your undead senses. A low groan and slow,
shuffling footsteps can be heard nearby.
The sound comes from the zombie Slorgh, who
patrols the dungeon mindlessly.
hidden details
Some areas feature one or more details that aren’t
immediately obvious or easily found. These details

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 1

2 11
10

3 8 9

The necromancer’s dungeon. 1: Ghoul room. 2: Rubbish room. 3: Laboratory storage. 4: Skeleton room. 5: Long corridor.
6: Connecting corridor. 7: Bone room. 8: Enbalming room. 9: Storage. 10: Coffin room. 11: Stairs.

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 are marked “➛ On a closer look,” followed by the
difficulty and ability check required to discover them.
1. ghoul room
The wrought-iron gate (AC 13, 20 HP) to this room
is locked with a robust lock that requires a successful
DC 13 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check to pick.
The blood-splattered room is filled with the rotten
remains of previous experiments. The characters
who play as a ghoul and a ghast are chained to the
wall with rusty manacles (AC 12, 10 HP).
2. rubbish room
The room is filled with broken wooden coffins,
empty crates, shattered glass jars, and a rotting
corpse. Planks from the wooden coffins and large
glass shards can be used as improvised weapons.
3. laboratory storage
The walls in this room are lined with shelves filled
with glass jars that contain undead experiments
bobbing in yellowish fluid that reek of chemicals.
The jars contain three crawling claws, one
flameskull, five will-o’-wisps, and one troll hand.
All the monsters are alive, but unable to leave
their sealed jars. If the containers are destroyed,
the monsters are released and instantly attack the
nearest creature.
4. skeleton room
The door to this room is made of half-rotten wood (AC
12, 15 HP). Its lock is jammed requires a successful
DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check to pick.
The floor is littered with bones of various sizes
and a mouldy blue blanket. Three non-hostile rats
are gnawing on the bones on the floor.
5. long corridor
This corridor is weakly illuminated by a few
burning torches. It is patrolled by Slorgh, who
wanders back and forth between the corridor and
the Rubbish room (Area 2).
Slorgh is a semi-successful undead experiment
but rather weak despite its hulking size. It has a
crude metal key ring with keys to all locked doors
in the dungeon. Slorgh uses the stats of a zombie,
but it has no resistances or immunities. It uses a
club that deals 1d4 in bludgeoning damage.
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6. connecting corridor
Like the rest of the dungeon, this corridor is covered
with uneven flagstone flooring and spiderwebs.
7. bone room
The built-in bookcases in this room are filled with
rows of glass jars that contain various bones.
Each jar is meticulously labelled and describes
the type of bones within, e.g., “First index finger
bone, left hand, human specimen.” In the middle
of the room is a partly assembled horse skeleton.
There is also a workbench with several bone jars
and sheets with anatomy drawings of horses.
8. embalming room
Two mummified bodies rest on large stone tables
in the middle of the room. A corner cupboard and
two unmatching tables contain embalming tools
and wrappings.
If any other character (except for the ghost)
enters the room, the mummy on the left table
groans and stirs. Its eyes begin to glow fiercely red
behind the linen wrappings.
It takes the mummy one round to rise before it
attacks the nearest creature. The mummy has no
resistances or immunities.
9. storage
The door to this room is made of old but solid wood
(AC 12, 20 HP). Its metal lock requires a successful
DC 15 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools) check to pick.
trap
Any creature who touches the door and doesn’t
speak the words “Knowledge is Power” triggers
the spell magic missile. The magical darts target
three different characters randomly with a +3 to
hit, and deal 1d4 + 1 force damage.
The trap can be spotted with a successful
DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence
(Investigation) check. It can be disarmed by
removing the arcane symbols that are drawn
along the door frame. This requires a damp cloth
and a successful DC 10 Dexterity check.
Heldrian stores clothes and items in this room
from his stolen corpses. The chest contains the
characters’ weapons and equipment.
 The character with the highest passive
perception finds a green ranger cloak in one of the
wardrobes. The cloak has a hidden pocket sewn
into its lining that contains a golden ring with
three inlaid stones. Two of the stones are dull, but
one glows faintly.
This ring is a Ring of Three Wishes. It has one
wish spell left that may enable the characters to
return to life.
10. coffin room
This room contains several wooden coffins in
various sizes, a rusty trolley, and a crates with
different kinds of equipment. The coffins are mud-
stained and have clearly been used.
11. stairs
The stairs are 10 feet wide and 30 feet long.
They lead to an unlocked wooden trapdoor in the
ceiling. The trapdoor swings up and opens to the
necromancer’s tower.
The tower and ritual table where the necromancer is carrying out his occult experiment.
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➛ On a closer look, DC 15 Wisdom
(Perception): A low, annoyed muttering can be
heard through the trapdoor.
time to meet your maker
The person muttering is the necromancer
Heldrian Slhandrik. He is a gaunt human male
(NE) with a crooked nose and nicotine-yellow
hair. Heldrian wears a shabby purple robe and an
open-face barbute helm in dark green leather. He
is currently studying a thick tome on a bookstand
while casting a spell on a flesh golem that lies
on the stone table. Like Heldrian’s other undead
experiments, it has no resistances or immunities.
The hideous creature is Heldrian’s latest
experiment, and he refers to it as “Darling”.
Heldrian is used to restless spirits and ignores
any ghosts he sees. However, if he notices any
of the other characters, he realises that his
experiments have escaped their cells.
5

“Idiotic, despicable things!” the gaunt
necromancer shouts. “Stupid in life and even
dumber in death! I will teach you for disturbing
my delicate experiments. Attack them, Darling!
Kill them!”
The necromancer raises his thin arms and
begins to cast a spell.
Heldrian uses the statistics of a cult fanatic
with the following modifications:
➛ He has an Intelligence score of 13 (+1) and
a Wisdom score of 10 (+0).
➛ His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell
save DC 11, +3 to hit with spell attacks).
Heldrian has the following wizard spells
prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, light, prestidigitation
1st level (4 slots): shield, magic missile
2nd Level (3 slots): misty step, suggestion
Heldrian is immune a ghost’s Horrifying Visage
and Possession actions.
If Heldrian dies or becomes unconscious,
he loses control over the flesh golem. Should
this happen, Darling stops fighting and begins
devouring Heldrian’s juicy brain instead.
treasure
Heldrian wears a Helm of Comprehend Languages
and carries a leather purse with 1 gp, 14 sp, 3 cp,
and a small green jade stone (value 3 gp).
Heldrian’s spellbook is clad in burgundy leather
and contains all the spells that Heldrian knew in
life and a Scroll of Create Undead.
The rest of Heldrian’s books are fairly obscure
and cover arcane lore, necromancy, and anatomy
subjects. Most of the books are in poor condition,
but they are worth up to 300 gp from the right
collector.
upstairs tower room
The room upstairs is furnished with a bed with
a moth-eaten blanket, and a workbench covered
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with laboratory equipment and various oddly
shaped vials filled with fizzing, bubbling fluids.
Found among the vials are one Potion of Water
Breathing, one Potion of Greater Healing, and
one Elixir of Health. There is also a Scroll of Acid
Splash under the bed.
outside
Near the tower are a battered carriage and a
shed with a small paddock. Inside the shed is a
non-hostile warhorse skeleton with red eyes that
Heldrian uses for his nightly excursions. A crude
plaque on the wall reads “Princess Vilehoof”. As
an undead creature, it doesn’t require air, food,
sleep, or drink. However, it must be fed with
human remains at least once a month or it turns
into a pile of bones.
aftermath
The characters receive a group award of 1,050
XP for accomplishing the quest, plus additional XP
for defeating monsters. Alternatively, the DM
can use this as a minor milestone award and the
characters gain half a level.
epilogue
Unbeknownst to the characters, their meeting
with Heldrian Slhandrik prevented a disaster.
If Hadrian’s necromantic experiments would
have continued, it would have resulted in an
undead army rising from an old battlefield near
Shieldsborg Castle. The undead soldiers would
have swarmed the land, spreading chaos and
pestilence wherever they went.
it continues!
Heldrian Slhandrik will return from the grave
1d12 months later as an undead creature of the
DM’s choice. Heldrian has a burning personal
vendetta towards the characters for ruining his
experiment, and he wants revenge!
the end
The necromancer’s dungeon: Player version.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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Tove Lund Jorgensen (montage and art)
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additional downloads
design
Erik Jorgensen Maps, VTT tokens, and handouts for the
adventure can be downloaded here: http://
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DM (Tove Lund Jorgensen)
Feng ( Joakim Flisberg) open game licence
November (Erik Jorgensen) Version 1.0a The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All

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R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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