Demogorgon Must Die: A Twenty Level D&D Campaign Outline

by Mike on 10 May 2021

This article outlines a twenty level campaign centering around the sinister plots
of the demon prince Demorgorgon. Like The Hunger and Harvester of Worlds, this
outline describes location-based adventures for each tier of play following a
central arc. It's intended to inspire your own campaign outlines, offer subplots
you can weave into your own campaigns, or even inspire your own Demogorgon-based
campaign. Enjoy!

Campaign Elevator Pitch

Demogorgon begins a war...against themselves! Aameul, the charismatic and
calculating head of the twin-headed demon prince plants the seed of a plot to
finally split from their brutal chaotic other half, Hethradiah. All that must be
done is to die. Unfortunately, such a feat will destroy much of the world along
with it and birth a new chaotic demon prince in the process. The characters must
untangle this thread, protect the world from the demon prince's war, and perhaps
destroy the demon prince forever.

The Six Truths of Demogorgon Must Die

Cults are on the rise in the region.
Mutated livestock have been born with two heads.
Twisted nightmares pushed orc and goblinoid raiders back deep into their caves.
Strange shadows and ghouls rise from fetid swamps attacking local villages.
Strange symbols appear in ancient swampy caves, black myres, and forgotten grottos.
Local lords and regional kings began conscripting and mobilizing armies for a
coming war.
1st Level: A Missing Mind
The campaign begins with the characters conscripted by an elderly mother whose son
has gone missing in the nearby woods. Nightmares told the old woman that something
unfathomable and sinister grips her son's body, lifts him, and pierces into his
skull with a black tentacle.

The characters find the poor lad, comatose, with no visible wounds. A strange glyph
has been burned into the grass surrounding the young man. Shadows (one for every
two characters) slide out of the woods speaking in the abyssal tongue of the Deep
Father as the lad rises up as a ghoul. The characters return to the woman with
their grim news and reach 2nd level.

2nd to 4th Level: Rise of the Sibilant Beast

The characters uncover signs of not one but two cults vying for power in the
region, each seeking to draw their own demon prince into the world and build it's
throne.

Ruins of the Hungering Maw. The characters follow the signs of a nearby cult to
ancient ruins of a dark keep. There they discover cultists pulling a demon out of
the Gaping Maw.

Monastery of the Still Mind. Following the leads of those whose minds have been
shattered, the characters travel to a nearby monastery supposedly helping those
victims. Instead they discover an entirely different cult devouring the
consciousness of their victims.

Altar of Spiraling Depths. Following clues from both cults, the characters travel
to an underground temple where the Cult of Aameul and the Cult of Hethradiah wage
war against one another only to find that both cults follow the same being �
Demogorgon!

5th to 10th Level: The War of Spiraling Depths

The cults of Aameul and Hethradiah wage war across the land, corrupting kings and
murdering hundreds as they crash together. The characters begin to unweave the plot
of the twin-headed demon prince.

The Sundered Village. The characters travel to a village overtaken by festering

ghouls and cultists of Hethradiah.

Pits of the Black Mire. The characters learn of a festering pit hidden away in the
Black Mire where the Cult of Hethradiah spawns terrible psionic-empowered ghouls
attacking neighboring villages.

Library of the Imprisoned One. In order to understand the true depths of the twin
cults and the horror they worship, the characters travel to the library of Helm.
There in the forbidden stacks, they discover that a sect of Helm's priests and
paladins have supported Aameul for centuries.

Horror from the Gaping Maw. Vithriax, a two-headed troll priest, uses the power of
both cults to call horrible demons out of the ancient gateway of Ix. The characters
must travel to the gateway, face its demonic hordes, and close the portal to end
the infestation.

Palace of Shattered Minds. The characters learn that the Cult of Aameul have
dominated the minds of the rulers of Wyndgard palace, the city surrounding it, and
the armies that protect it. The characters must make their way into the palace and
break the Sphere of Aameul dominating the lords.

Warlocks of the Twisting Serpents. The characters travel to the spire of Twisted
Serpents to face the yuan-ti warlocks of Demogorgon; the only followers who
understand Demogorgon's duality. Only they know the true drive of both Aameul and
Hethradiah.

11th to 16th Level: Discordia

The character learn that in order to save the world they must slay the avatar of
Demogorgon in the world, acquire the only weapon capable of killing Demogorgon in
their home world of the Gaping Maw, and travel to that accursed world to end
Demogorgon's reign of destruction.

Return to Darklake. Years ago the kuo-toa summoned Demogorgon to the underdark
through sheer force of will. How they did so remains a mystery sunken in the depths
of Darklake. The characters must make their way to the ruined kuo-toa city and face
the horrors they have manifested through their own mad callings before reaching the
ruins beneath the black water and discovering the prophecy speaking secrets of the
twin-headed demon prince.

The Bloodfields. Twisted by the influence of both Aameul and Hethradiah, war rages
in the land. Deformed giants and demons led by the twin-headed ancient black dragon
Selivis Twintongue fight the mind-twisted armies of the city of Wyndgard in league
with Aamuel. The characters must find a way to stop both armies before they destroy
every town and village stuck between them.

Hall of Secrets. Far in the frozen north lives a lich sage trapped in his own
unhallowed halls. Having long-since given his soul to extend his life, the lich,
Xorrus, is the only being who has discovered the true secret of Aameul's plot, the
location of the weapon capable of destroying Demogorgon, and the yawning gateway
that leads from this world to Demogorgon's own world, the Gaping Maw.

City of Shattered Mines. The avatar of Demogorgon destroys the city of Wyndgard,
shredding bodies with its twisted tentacles and minds with its psionic attacks. The
characters must return to the broken city, face, and defeat the avatar before it
continues its reign of destruction.

Castle Discordia. The characters track back the trail of the avatar of Demogorgon
to the legendary Castle Discordia, an ancient keep once thought to be pure myth. In
its twisted halls and endless chambers the characters must find the portal to the
Gaping Maw and the weapon capable of slaying the demon prince forever, guarded by
Demogorgon's most powerful cultists and guardians.

The Gaping Maw. In the depths beneath Castle Discordia, beings of pure nightmare
lurk in the darkness, never having seen the sun of the world above. The most loyal
cultists, priests, and archmages in service to the cult of the Deep Father guard
the portal between the world and the Gaping Maw. If the characters wish to save the
world above they must enter the portal and close it from the other side.

17th to 20th Level: Death and Birth in the Gaping Maw

The characters step into the Gaping Maw, the abyssal layer of Demogorgon where the
demon prince's war has shattered the plane. There they must make their choice to
follow through with Aameul's plot, betray Aameul to Hethradiah, attempt to kill
Demogorgon, or slay the resulting new demon prince rising from Aaemul's treachery.

The Brine Flats. The characters traverse an endless shore of white bones along the
acidic oceans of the Gaping Maw. They come across the ruins of cities and temples
fallen from other worlds and torn apart by the rampages of twisted undead and
mutated demons before making their way to the gates of the Endless Jungle.

The Endless Jungle. The characters navigate the swamps and jungle stretching from
the Brine Flats to the tower of Abysm. They find themselves hunted by the broken
fomorian hunters of the jungle who serve the twin dracolichs who sired Selivis
Twintongue.

The Towers of Abysm. The characters crawl through the catacombs beneath the twin
twisted towers of Abysm seeking an entrance through the maddening labyrinth.
Climbing within they face their own worst memories, torn from their minds and
manifested. Along the way the final plots and seeds of both Aamuel and Hethradiah
slide through the minds of the characters, offering them eternal glory should they
side the right way.

Death and Rebirth. In the highest reaches of the Towers of Abysm the characters
face Demogorgon's final guardians and uncover Aameul's sarcophagus containing their
new body. In the final chamber the characters must defeat Demogorgon and their
protectors before siding with one head over the other or choosing to destroy both
and create a vacuum for something new. The decisions they choose change the face of
the multiverse forever.