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Stop the bell before the dead leave the aisle - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Stop the bell before the dead leave the aisle

Encounters
Hold · Low · 4 players, level 5

Stop the bell before the dead leave the aisle

If the bell keeps ringing, the dead leave the aisle and threaten the living graves above.

Run the fight

Round
1
3 to 5 rounds
Creatures
4
Low

This round

Reeds lash at ankles. Each creature in the flooded aisle makes a Strength save or has its speed reduced to 0 until the start of its next turn. The aisle becomes heavily obscured until the next bell ring.

Win The Bell-Keeper is destroyed or the bell is silenced and the Reedbed Dead are destroyed

Lose The party retreats or all characters are unable to act

Party 4 players, level 5

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

Hold

Silence the bell before its ringing draws the dead out of the burial aisle.

Win

The Bell-Keeper is destroyed or the bell is silenced and the Reedbed Dead are destroyed.

Lose

The party retreats or all characters are unable to act; the dead push beyond the chamber.

If it goes badly: The Reedbed Dead pursue only as far as the dry ledge; the Bell-Keeper stays by the bell.

Forces

  • 1 × Specter, the Bell-KeeperAC 12 · HP 22 · CR 1
  • 3 × Zombies, the Reedbed DeadAC 8 · HP 15 · CR 1/4

Rounds

  • 1+Reeds lash at ankles.

Read aloud

Say this

The bell swings above the flooded aisle, and three dead figures claw through the reeds toward you. The Bell-Keeper drifts beside the rope, its face turned to the sound. Water surges around your knees as the first ring shakes dust from the stones.

Forces

2

  • Specter, the Bell-Keeper

    Controller

    1 of them
    AC
    12
    HP each
    22
    CR
    1

    Incorporeal Movement · Life Drain · Sunlight Sensitivity

    Opens
    Drift through a marker and use Life Drain on the nearest creature threatening the bell rope.
    Targets
    The creature trying to silence the bell.
    Flees
    Fights until destroyed; it does not leave the chamber.

  • Zombies, the Reedbed Dead

    Bruiser

    3 of them
    AC
    8
    HP each
    15
    CR
    1/4

    Undead Fortitude · Slam

    Opens
    Wade toward the nearest living creature and attack with Slam.
    Targets
    A creature standing on the dry ledge.
    Flees
    Fight until destroyed.

What happens

3 to 5 rounds
  1. 1+

    At initiative count 20 each round, the bell rings unless it has been muffled.This round

    Reeds lash at ankles. Each creature in the flooded aisle makes a Strength save or has its speed reduced to 0 until the start of its next turn. The aisle becomes heavily obscured until the next bell ring.

  2. ·

    A character silences or muffles the bell.

    The Bell-Keeper fixes its attention on whoever muffled the bell; it has disadvantage on attack rolls against other creatures until the end of its next turn.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    The Drowning Aisle25 ft

    Waist-high water; difficult terrain for creatures without a swimming speed.

  2. 2

    The Last Dry Step25 ft

    Narrow, dry footing around the chamber; a creature shoved from it falls into the water.

  3. 3

    The Tangling Rows25 ft

    Leaning stone markers and hanging roots break sightlines; the area is lightly obscured.

What the party can use

Tip a leaning marker into the water: creatures in its 5-foot path make a DC 13 Dexterity save or fall prone.
Pull down hanging roots to make a 10-foot-long difficult-terrain curtain.
Reach the bell rope on the dry ledge and spend an action muffling the bell with cloth or cutting the rope; either silences it until the end of the next round.

Scaling

XP budget350 of 4,400 XP
Weaker

Low

One fewer Zombies, the Reedbed Dead

Use two Reedbed Dead, and the bell rings every other round.
As written

Low

Stronger

Low

One more Specter, the Bell-Keeper

Add one Reedbed Dead; it rises from the water at the start of round 2.

Treasure

A brass grave token lies beneath a fallen marker.

Media

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