Lighthouse Keepers: The Tempest Tide
Lighthouse Keepers: The Tempest Tide
Read aloud
The sea has turned black beneath Havenfall, and the Stormbreak Lighthouse is blinking out one shutter at a time. Rowan Ashford has kept its beacon burning alone for ten years, but tonight the Tempest Tide has returned and the drowned are climbing the seawall. You have been appointed to help Rowan hold the light until dawn.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Establish trust with Rowan and inspect the beacon.
- 2Prepare the lighthouse and Havenfall for the Tide.
- 3Keep the beacon burning through the Tempest Tide.
- 4Rescue Lily from the drowned shades.Optional
The clock
The Tempest Tide reaches Havenfall over the course of the adventure. After the party completes preparations or chooses to stop preparing, begin the final five-round defense. Each round represents several minutes of storm pressure; complications should create urgent choices without removing player agency.
Scenes
- 0:00A Keeper at the Door
- 0:20Four Shutters, One Light
- 0:40The Village Looks to the Light
- 1:05The Log and the Unsent Letter
- 1:25Make the Light Hold
- 1:55The Tempest Tide
Cast
- Rowan AshfordQuestgiver and ally
- Mayor Harlan GreavesQuestgiver contact and witness
- Lily VennWitness and optional rescue
- The Voice in the StormAntagonist
The hook
Set the scene
Read the hook aloud as the party arrives at Stormbreak Lighthouse. Rowan opens the door only a handspan at first, studies the appointed helper, then lets them in as a wave crashes against the cliff. Give the player a chance to introduce their character and decide how they respond to Rowan. Rowan explains the four shutters, the beacon, and the fact that the Tide is already early enough to threaten the lower gallery.
How Rowan Ashford asks
Rowan meets the appointed adventurer at the lighthouse door as the first storm surge reaches the cliff.
Rowan offers a spare oilskin coat and a quick explanation of the four shutters, then asks for help without demanding unquestioning obedience. Mayor Harlan Greaves can be met during the refuge scene and gives the party a choice between prioritizing the lighthouse defenses and helping villagers.
Rumours
Scenes
about 2.5 hours0:00
20 min
socialThe table is here
1. A Keeper at the Door
Stormbreak Lighthouse entrance and keeper's room, with rain beginning to hammer the windows.
The party arrives as the first surge hits. Rowan explains the beacon and asks the hero to help, while the hero decides how to approach Rowan and what to ask.
NextRowan asks the hero to inspect the beacon before the first full wave reaches the gallery.
0:20
20 min
exploration
2. Four Shutters, One Light
The beacon chamber and its narrow spiral stair.
The hero examines the beacon, its four shutters, and the stair leading down to the gallery. A Investigation, Arcana, Religion, or appropriate tools check reveals that one shutter is warped and the flame needs tending. Rowan shares only what the hero asks about the last Tide.
NextA horn sounds from the village, and Rowan leads the hero toward the seawall and the refuge below.
0:40
25 min
social
3. The Village Looks to the Light
Havenfall's flooded lane below the lighthouse, with villagers gathering under an overhang.
Mayor Greaves is organizing refugees while Lily is missing near the seawall. The party chooses whether to direct people to shelter, help reinforce the lighthouse, or search for Lily. A Persuasion or Insight check can earn the Mayor's cooperation, but no check is needed to make a meaningful choice.
Shades at the SeawallNextA lull in the rain gives the party time to check the keeper's quarters and prepare the defenses.
1:05
20 min
exploration
4. The Log and the Unsent Letter
The keeper's quarters, where salt-stained pages and an old brass key have been left untouched.
The party finds the Keeper's Log and Edric's unsent letter among Rowan's things or in an accessible part of the keeper's quarters. The letter mentions Edric's fear that the light was drawing something from the deep, but it does not settle whether the fear was true. Rowan may share a memory or refuse to discuss it; let the player's choices shape trust.
NextThe rising wind forces an immediate choice of defenses: reinforce doors and windows, set spikes, lay wards, or help the villagers move to safer ground.
1:25
30 min
skill
5. Make the Light Hold
The lighthouse's lower hall, outer gallery, and the nearest stretch of seawall.
The party chooses at least two preparations. Each completed preparation grants a concrete benefit in the final defense: a reinforced shutter can be secured automatically once, spikes slow a shade that crosses the gallery, a ward grants advantage on one beacon-tending check, and moving refugees reduces the consequences of a breach. If the party seeks Lily, the optional Storm Caller encounter can occur.
The Storm CallerNextAs the Tempest Tide reaches the cliff, Rowan calls everyone to the beacon chamber for the five-round defense.
1:55
40 min
combat
6. The Tempest Tide
The beacon chamber, surrounded by black water and wind-shaken shutters.
Run the five-round defense. The hero and Rowan must secure at least three shutters and tend the beacon. Drowned Shades press into the chamber while the Voice calls from beyond the glass. Use complications to make the storm active and specific. At the end of round five, resolve the defense based on the objectives achieved and the party's choices.
Five Rounds at the BeaconNextAt dawn, the party and Rowan face the cost of their choices and decide what kind of keepers Havenfall needs next.
Behind it
What people believe
Every ten years, the Tempest Tide rolls against Havenfall, bringing drowned spirits and violent storms.
Stormbreak Lighthouse has protected the village for generations, but its keeper Rowan Ashford cannot maintain the failing beacon alone. The newly appointed adventurer must help Rowan prepare the lighthouse, protect the people of Havenfall, and keep the light burning until the storm passes.
Background
Havenfall has survived for generations beneath the protection of Stormbreak Lighthouse, whose enchanted beacon turns aside the worst of the sea and weather.
Every ten years, the Tempest Tide returns: a supernatural storm carrying drowned spirits, violent elementals, and a presence locals call the Voice in the Storm. Ten years ago, lighthouse keeper Edric Ashford died during the last Tide. His sibling Rowan remained at the lighthouse, tending it alone ever since. The beacon is now faltering, and Havenfall has appointed a new keeper to help Rowan through the coming storm.
The stakes
If the beacon holds, Havenfall is protected through the night and Rowan does not have to face the Tide alone.
If it fails, the village is exposed to supernatural waves and the lighthouse may be damaged, but the party's decisions can still save people and leave a path to recovery. The adventure is about trust, grief, and shared responsibility, not a predetermined sacrifice.
Encounters
3Shades at the Seawall
Combat
A narrow seawall and the lighthouse's slick lower gallery. Low stone barriers provide half cover. Spray makes the gallery difficult terrain in patches.
Foes
Drowned Shades
ComplicationA wave or broken shutter may separate the defenders. A character can spend an action to secure a shutter with a DC 12 Athletics or tools check, or use an appropriate spell or feature.
ScalingFor one level-3 hero with Rowan as a supporting NPC, use two Drowned Shades, represented by shadows with reduced hit points of 9 each. Rowan should focus on helping with objectives and use the Help action rather than dealing damage. For two heroes, use three shades at 9 hit points each. A Drowned Shade is a custom reskin of a shadow; omit Strength Drain and use a simple melee attack dealing 1d6 + 2 necrotic damage.
The Storm Caller
Combat
The exposed path between the lighthouse and the seawall, with wind, spray, and one toppled fishing cart that grants half cover.
Foes
Storm Caller
ComplicationThe Caller attempts to lure one defender away from the beacon with a familiar voice. A character who hears it can use an action to call out a warning, granting one ally advantage on their next Wisdom saving throw against the Voice.
ScalingThis is an optional, brief confrontation. For one level-3 hero and Rowan, use one Storm Caller with 18 hit points, AC 12, and one ranged attack per round that deals 1d6 + 2 lightning damage. It retreats at 5 hit points or when the beacon is relit. For two heroes, increase it to 26 hit points. This is a custom creature, not a canonical 5e monster.
Five Rounds at the Beacon
Combat
The circular beacon chamber has four numbered shutters, a central flame, and a narrow stair. During a round, a character can attempt one meaningful task: operate a shutter with a DC 12 Athletics or tools check, tend the beacon with a DC 12 Arcana or Religion check, or hold off a shade. One character can perform a task automatically if they prepared that exact defense earlier and conditions allow it.
Foes
Drowned Shades
The Voice in the Storm
ComplicationAt the end of each round, roll a d6 on the complications table, or select an event that highlights the current defense objective. The Voice can use a character's remembered grief as a lure, but it cannot dictate what the character feels or chooses.
ScalingRun exactly five rounds. For one level-3 hero with Rowan as a support NPC, begin with two Drowned Shades using the reduced custom statistics in Shades at the Seawall. Rowan can use an action to operate a shutter, assist a check, or help a creature, but should not take the hero's decisive actions. For two heroes, use three shades. The Voice is a supernatural pressure rather than a creature with hit points; the defenders win by completing objectives, not by defeating it. On round five, resolve the defense result even if enemies remain.
Cast
4Rowan Ashford
QuestgiverQuestgiver and ally
WantsRowan wants to protect Havenfall and keep the lighthouse working, but grief and a decade of isolation make it difficult to trust anyone with the beacon or with Edric's memory.
“The beacon does not need a hero. It needs two people who will keep their hands steady when the shutters start to shake.”
Mayor Harlan Greaves
Questgiver contact and witness
WantsMayor Greaves wants the village evacuated or defended with the fewest possible casualties. He is frightened that Rowan's judgment is clouded by grief, but he respects the keeper's knowledge.
“I will not order you to stay. I will ask you to look at those people on the seawall and decide what their lives are worth to you.”
Lily Venn
Witness and optional rescue
WantsLily wants to reach the seawall and search for her missing brother, even as the storm makes that nearly impossible. Her choices should be determined by the players' actions, not by a predetermined relationship to the Ashfords.
“The tide took my brother's lantern. I can still see it beneath the water when I close my eyes.”
The Voice in the Storm
Antagonist
WantsThe Voice in the Storm seeks to break the beacon's defenses and draw the living into the water. Whether it is Edric, a spirit wearing his memory, or something using grief as bait is deliberately unresolved.
“Keeper. Open the door. I have come back to finish what the sea began.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A lantern glass charm from Rowan, a custom keepsake that glows faintly blue near supernatural seawater. It has no combat bonus.
One healer's kit and two potions of healing from Mayor Greaves if the party rescued villagers or Lily.
On a win
If three or more shutters are secured and the beacon is tended, the light holds until dawn and the worst of the Tide breaks against the cliff.
Use the party's choices to frame the ending. In The Light We Keep Together, Rowan accepts help and the villagers share responsibility for the beacon. In An Open Door, the party prioritizes refugees or Lily, saves lives, and faces repairs or damage to the lighthouse. In The Keeper's Vigil, Rowan or the hero chooses to remain at the beacon through the night, preserving the light at a personal cost chosen by the player. These endings are outcomes shaped by trust and decisions, not fixed relationships or prescribed character sacrifices.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party fails to secure at least three of the four shutters during the final defense.
- If fewer than three shutters are secured by the end of round five, the storm breaches the lighthouse. The beacon goes dark, and Havenfall suffers serious damage. The villagers survive by retreating to higher ground, but the party must choose whether to pursue the Voice into the flooded streets or regroup and attempt to relight the beacon at dawn.
- No character tends the beacon successfully during the five-round defense.
- If the beacon is not tended during the final defense, the light falters even if three shutters are secured. Havenfall is protected unevenly, and several homes near the shore are lost. The Ashfords' lighthouse remains standing, giving the characters another chance to restore it.
- The party chooses to spend the preparation period on rescue or evacuation instead of reinforcing the lighthouse.
- If the party abandons the lighthouse to rescue Lily or help refugees, those people can be saved, but the final defense begins with one shutter unsecured and the beacon flame weakened. The choice is consequential, not a forced punishment.
Complications (d6)
- 1A wave slams into the lighthouse's lower entrance. Anyone in the entry hall must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or fall prone; the door takes visible damage.
- 2A shutter jams half-open. One character must use an action and succeed on a DC 12 Strength or Dexterity check to secure it before the next wave hits.
- 3The beacon's blue flame gutters. A character adjacent to it must use an action to tend it, succeeding on a DC 12 Arcana, Religion, or tools check, or the next defense objective check is made with disadvantage.
- 4A drowned spirit calls from below in the voice of someone a character misses. The character must choose to spend an action answering, help another character resist the call, or ignore it and succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw to avoid being distracted until the end of their next turn.
- 5A refugee is trapped behind fallen beams in the lower hall. Freeing them requires an action and a DC 12 Athletics check; if ignored, they are swept into a safe side room and are not killed, but the group loses time and the Mayor's confidence.
- 6Lightning strikes the outer gallery. One prepared spike is destroyed, and creatures on the gallery must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 lightning damage.
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