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Lair of the Ooze Alchemist| 1st-level 5th Edition Adventure

Added 2022-11-19 20:51:18 +0000 UTC

Hey, everyone!

Apologies for the delayed content! I've been working on multiple projects at the same time and they're all set to be wrapped up in the next few days. I've been working with other content creators to make some pretty fun adventures and it takes a bit longer than my usual, but they're awesome folks who let me share their work with you as well!

This adventure uses some of the awesome maps from my good buddies over at The MAD Cartographer! It's a 16-page pdf with some twists and turns that was inspired by some of the comments and responses from all of you! I hope you enjoy!

~ TJ

LAIR OF THE OOZE ALCHEMIST

Lair of the Ooze Alchemist is a 5th Edition adventure intended for three to five characters of 1st to 2nd level and optimized for four characters with an average party level (APL) of 1. A group of adventurers responded to a notice from Dr. Jerome Goldmantle, an alchemist looking for help gathering materials for his experiments. The innocent-seeming gnome rewarded their desire to help by drugging them and locking them in his laboratory's basement. The party must now escape their cell and the laboratory of a mad alchemist with a passion for toxic oozes.

This adventure is designed to introduce new players to the world’s greatest tabletop roleplaying game. The opening scene is set up for unknown characters to meet for the first time. The sandbox “escape room” style format is intended to encourage cooperation, reward curiosity and roleplaying, and give the party enough challenge to be satisfying at its conclusion. While the adventure takes place in the Freelands campaign setting, it can be placed into any existing campaign with a few modifications and name changes. While designed for characters just starting in their adventuring careers, veterans may also enjoy the eclectic mix of encounters and challenges throughout the escape.

Background

Wally Whistletooth Jr. was a typical, unassuming young lad growing up in Summersgate, the secret gnomish city hidden so deep beneath the Motionless Mountains that it borders the Deepshade. Like many young gnomes his age, Wally had a sincere interest in learning the secrets of the unknown through experimentation and invention. Unlike his peers who leaned towards exploring the traditional paths of gnomish artifice (the process of combining the arcane with the mechanical), Wally’s interests were more esoteric. He sought to explore the limits of biological creatures instead—usually by cutting them open, harvesting their parts, and diluting them into alchemical components for potions.

He eagerly performed these experiments in secret for years. Neighborhood pets went missing regularly, yet none suspected the young alchemist living alone with his widower father. That changed the night Wally met a new friend while discarding body remains in the back of an obscure tunnel. While dumping the evidence of his crimes, he came face to face with an acidic ooze feeding on the previous parts the young gnome had left the night before. He watched in fascination as the ooze completely eliminated everything down to the cellular level. Excited at the possibilities the ooze presented, Wally fed it more parts, watching with glee as it dissolved everything down until nothing remained. He decided to bring the newly dubbed “Ollie” back to his small laboratory for further research and never risked using the tunnel for disposal again.

However, Wally grew careless with how much time he spent in the lab and his selection of subjects. It wasn’t long before Wally Sr. eventually discovered his blood-spattered son elbow-deep inside the chest cavity of his most recent victim, dissecting them with a joyful whistle on his smiling lips. The laws forbidding these practices were clear, and every citizen in Summersgate knew the penalty was death. As an Oathkeeper, Wally Sr. was dutybound to take his son into custody and face the Tribunal’s justice. It took him only an instant to realize that he could never treat his son that way, but he hesitated just a fraction too long.

Before he could say a word, Wally Jr. pushed his father into Ollie’s vat, and he watched as the ooze devoured his only living blood relation. Wally packed his family’s valuables and slipped out of the city, leaving his lab and home in flames to destroy any evidence.

The rogue alchemist then took the new name Dr. Jerome Goldmantle (Dr. Jerry to his friends) and settled in the Freelands. He set up a secret laboratory near Summerfall, a newer city built on the bones of an even more ancient settlement the current occupants don’t remember: the original site where the gnomes’ interplanar ship crashed into this world so many centuries ago. As the newly born Dr. Goldmantle, he kidnapped transients to use in his experiments with none the wiser. The alchemist continues his search to expand the powers of his ooze familiar to this day, using his alchemy to pursue a method to augment Ollie.

Dr. Goldmantle’s experiments progressed until he grew too bold and decided to kidnap adventurers. He fell into the vat that same day, merging with Ollie and transforming into an ooze creature trapped inside his own experiment chamber. Unfortunately, the adventurers he kidnapped are still trapped below. They must work through the alchemist’s laboratory, interact with the odd creatures trapped here, decide which potions are useful and dangerous, and figure out how to open the massive vault door blocking the way out.

The MAD Cartographer creates fantasy battlemaps for VTT, including dynamic Foundry VTT content that comes complete with walls, lighting, sounds, and more. Each month they have a new theme and create multiple unique maps each week and have an extensive backlog of over 700 maps available to their patrons. You can check them out at https://www.patreon.com/themadcartographer!