1-Hour Sessions: Grave Robbers (Level 1 encounter)

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the first post in 1-Hour Sessions, here I will provide all of the core material needed to take a group of up to 5 adventurers through one adventure of Dungeons and Dragons, without having any experience.  I will provide the encounter map, the encounter & experience, and the treasure for every session.  This will allow you to either take this up as a quick sidequest, a hook, or even the beginning of your own campaign.

The Scenario

In Grave Robbers players will be introduced to the Caretaker to the local graveyard who has been complaining about graves being dug up and raising his superstition that the undead will strike against him and the town if digging doesn't stop.  He promises the party a large collection of potions, oils and other similar trinkets if the party can stop whoever or whatever is digging in the middle of the night.

Your first step should be getting to know who your players are, or at least their characters.  Go around the table and have all of them introduce themselves and have them keep it short.  If this isn't your first session, then ignore this step.

Here you will be given the brief script that the caretaker will use with the players:

Intro hook: "P-please, help me. I fear for my life if they aren't stopped."

Answering their question: "I am the caretaker of the graveyard, S-s-simon.  S-someone or something has been digging up the graves in the middle of the night...I-if they aren't stopped, we're all doomed.  The dead will demand vengeance for disturbing their sleep. I c-can re-reward you if you save our town."

The party should get the idea that that the caretaker is either a fragile person, superstitutious, simple, or even elderly with the stuttering and it plays on the idea that it would be good to not only help the caretaker, but also prevent skeletons and zombies to ravage the town.

Answering a question about reward: "I have a c-cache of potions, oils and and ointments you can have, just stop them before it is t-t-too late!"

Explaining the Map

The map comes with 8 rooms in total, two of which are blocked by locked doors.  Each number has a flavor description which may or may not be read at your choice and are just optional ways to describe the room.  At any point you feel comfortable, you can just ad-lib the descriptions.  Here are the scripted descriptions:

1. "Easily entering the sepulcher, the dim torchlit hallway holds a somber tone of respect as it is met with the spine-tingling smell of earth.  Echoing off the walls are the sounds of boots and whispers.  The hall way extends 75 feet inward and to your left and right are open doorways with more doorways visible through the dancing shadows of torches."
2. The room seems undisturbed as six large sarcophagi sit in the room.  You recall the warning that Simon, the caretake had told you before.
3. The room looks like it was recently disturbed and the sounds of scratching can be heard within in the coffins.  It almost sounds like nails scratching against their oaken lids and faint gasps can be heard.
4. Inside the room, you see two statues with braizers lit, but giving off a strange blue flame.  There are two sarcophagi below them and two chests nearby.
5. Ten coffins sit in this room and are accompanied by a wheelbarrow and a chest.  It is obvious now that someone has been here before as the same sound from the coffins before can be heard in a louder chorus in this room.
6. Entering this room you see two large statues that look like they belong to a noble person.  Two chests sit at their heads and their sarcophagi are decorated with personal belongings and weapons.  You get the feeling disturbing this room may lead to a grave mistake.
7. Entering this room, the smell of heady wines, dust, grave dirt and sweat assault you.  There are several crates that look like were moved around earlier in the day.  You can assume that this is the caretaker's storage.
8. A chest sits on top of a large altar that has runes and arcane symbols sketched around its base.  Whatever is in the chest most either be important or worth something, but is it worth it?

Notes:

• All of the doors that require to be unlocked should be a Difficulty Check of 15 with Thieves' tools.
• Opening a sarcophagus requires a Strength Check of 14.
• The coffins in room 3 & 5 contain skeletons and if disturbed or opened become hostile.
• The chests in room 4 contain 300 gold pieces in gems, but when disturbed raise 2 ghouls from the nearby graves.
• The chest in room 5 contains jewelry, coin, gems and an ornate dagger totaling in worth of 450 gold pieces.  Taking any treasure of this chest would awaken ten skeletons, bursting from their coffins.
• The chests in this room contain 500 gold pieces in jewelry and gems.  The personal items are worth a total of 200 gold pieces.  Taking any treasure from this room will raise two wights, which are deadly to these characters at the moment.
• Entering the caretaker's room has no penalties outside of a moral quandry.  The party, searching the crates find three bottles of holy water and several small trinkets, but nothing of value.
• The chest on the altar in room 8 contains a magical amulet, but opening the chest also releases a ghost, which is deadly at this level.
• When the party enters room 8, have them roll a Perception check to notice stomping footsteps.  The check for this should be a 12.

Running the Encounter

The encounter with the grave robbers is a fight against 5 bandits.  This is a medium encounter, which means that the bandits should be of an equal level to the party, no one should die, but it may happen with bad rolls.  The fight in total is worth 250 experience points, and it is up to you whether or not you divide it between the players or give it as a lump sum.  I generally will divide experience, so each play in this case would get 50 experience points for surviving the encounter.

To make it easier on your party, have the bandits each attack a different target on their turns.  Some bandits may engage in melee combat, while others stay at ranged.  It is fine to mix it up.

Here is the stat block for the bandits:

Bandits are a staple in robbery for both GP and HP.

Conclusion

If the party did not disturb any grave site award them each 100 experience points.  At this point it leaves to question who the men were looking for, could they be working for someone else? What about all of the coffins filled with animated skeletons?  You can leave the party with all of the questions they want, but the best hook for your next adventure is leaving them wondering until next session.

If you are looking for pre-generated characters, you can find them here.

Downtime

Incoming Wall of Text

Downtime will normally be rewarded at the end of every session.  You may expend these downtime days in a variety of ways and may break your days up however you wish.  On top of expending Down Time days, you are expected to pay for room and board and other expenses of daily life are covered below:

Quality of Living	Cost
Wretched	-
Squalid	1 Silver Piece
Poor	2 Silver Pieces
Modest	1 Gold Piece
Comfortable	2 Gold Pieces
Wealthy	4 Gold Pieces
Aristocratic	10 or more Gold Pieces

Quality of Living Description:

• Wretched- You are starving or homeless and have a potential to be robbed in the middle of the night.
• Squalid- You may have found either a hay bed or a cheap loaf of bread and have a potential of being robbed or mugged in the middle of the night.
• Poor- You've managed to find a room and board, but it offers a cheap loaf of bread and a lumpy mattress.
• Modest- This is the standard cost of living with far less crime and a far more palatable meal.
• Wealthy- The life of successful adventurer's dream, now with complete bedding and complementary ale.
• Aristocratic- Faux-nobility at its richest.

Downtime Activities

Basic Activities-

Training-
Become proficient in a new skill, language, or tool (250 days)

Advanced Training-
Become proficient in the use of armor, shields, weapons (300 days)

Profession-
Each day spent working a profession generates 2d6+character level worth of silver.  An Entertainer and Guild Artisan generates 3d6+character level worth of silver.

Craft non-magical item-
Each day a character may work on crafting a non-magical item of almost any variety.  Each downtime day used in this fashion generates 25+character level gold worth of work towards that item.

Craft magical item-
Creating a magical item is a sophisticated process that takes precision and time.  There are five main ingredients to most magical items: Level requirement, the spell in nature, and sometimes, a formula, the item or vessel to be enchanted, and gold. A formula is not consumed when making a magical item.

Rarity	Minimum Level	Time	Base Gold Price	Formula
Common	3rd	10 Days	100g	Rarely
Uncommon	3rd	50 Days	500g	Sometimes
Rare	6th	250 Days	5,000g	Usually
Very Rare	11th	500 Days	50,000g	Always

Perform Sacred Rites-
A character may spend time in his or her location giving and offering sermons, marriage rites, funeral services, ordinations and other processes of their faith to the commonfolk.  If a character spends at least 10 days performing rites, they start each morning for the next 2d6 days with inspiration.

A character with the Sage background generates an additional inspiration point that may be given to another character for each 10 days spent performing rites.

Research-
A character may decide to spend time committing to research on either a location, item, creature or map.

• If a character spends at least 10 days researching an item, they either learn of its location or discover its activation word, but cannot ascertain whether the item is cursed or not without magical aid.  To discover how to destroy an artifact requires at minimum 50 days.
• A character that spends at least 10 days researching a location may discover a hidden cache, knowledge of a secret door, a rumored location of an artifact or even the original purpose to a location. 
• Finally a character may decide to research a creature.  If they choose to research a creature the character may discover one of the following with every 10 days of research: Its average hitpoints, its vulnerabilities, its special abilities, or its resistances and so forth.
• A character may spend 5, 10, 20 or 40 days to begin research on discovering a formula for a magical item.  It takes 5 days to research common magical item, 10 days for uncommon magical items, 20 days for rare magical items and 40 days for very rare magical item formulas.  This research is for one item and may be repeated for additional formulas.
• A character with the sage background may commit to two topics of research at the same time.

Spreading Rumors-

A character may decide to start build rumors against or for another character or npc.  The rate at which a rumor spreads is dependent on the size of the town, but all take at least five days to have a rumor spread. A successful rumor requires a persuasion or deception check of 15 and shifts the populace's appeal towards that individual upwards or downwards depending outcome and rumor.  A character with the charlatan or noble background may create two rumors at the same time.

Size	Time Needed
Village	2d6 Days
Town	4d6 Days
City	6d6 Days

Advanced Activities-

Build a Stronghold-
The dream of most adventurer's is to eventually have a place to call their own and some put their wealth and hard work into building just that.  A stronghold can serve as a place of revenue, a place of recruitment, a treasury that is secured, a place of worship or even a den of treachery.  It is up to the imagination of the player to decide what their stronghold will become.

Stronghold	Construction Cost	Construction Time
Abbey	50,000g	400 Days
Guildhall	5,000g	60 Days
Keep or small castle	50,000g	400 Days
Noble estate with manor	25,000g	150 Days
Outpost or fort	15,000g	100 Days
Palace or large castle	500,000g	1,200 Days
Temple	50,000g	400 Days
Tower, fortified	15,000g	100 Days
Trading post	5,000g	60 Days

Carousing-
Sometimes characters are looking for downtime without the needs of work, but hedonism.  Each day spent carousing is done at the expenses of a Wealthy living expense per day (4gp/day). A character with the criminal or folk hero background roll with a +10 bonus.

d100 + Level	Result
01–10	You are jailed for 1d4 days at the end of the downtime period on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. You can pay a fine of 10 gp to avoid jail time, or you can try to resist arrest.
11–20	You regain consciousness in a strange place with no memory of how you got there, and you have been robbed of 3d6 × 5 gp.
21–30	You make an enemy. This person, business, or organization is now hostile to you. The DM determines the offended party.You decide how you offended them.
31–40	You are caught up in a whirlwind romance. Roll a d20. On a 1–5, the romance ends badly. On a 6–10, the romance ends amicably. On an 11–20, the romance is ongoing. You determine the identity of the love interest, subject to your DM’s approval. If the romance ends badly, you might gain a new flaw. If it ends well or is ongoing, your new love interest might represent a new bond.
41–80	You earn modest winnings from gambling and recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing.
81–90	You earn modest winnings from gambling. You recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing and gain 1d20 × 4 gp.
91 or higher	You make a small fortune gambling. You recuperate your lifestyle expenses for the time spent carousing and gain 4d6 × 10 gp.Your carousing becomes the stuff of local legend.

Selling Magic Items-
Selling a magic item is a two step problem: Not everyone has the expendable income to purchase a magical item and the quality of buyer may or may not be what you expected.

Salable Magic Items

Rarity	Base Price	Days to Find Buyer	d100 Roll Modifier
Common	100g	1d4 Days	+10
Uncommon	500g	1d6 Days	+0
Rare	5,000g	1d8 Days	-10
Very Rare	50,000g	1d10 Days	-20

Quality of Buyer

D100 + Mod	You find...
20 or lower	A buyer offering a tenth of the base price.
21-40	A buyer offering a quarter of the base price, and a shady buyer offering half of the base price.
41-80	A buyer offering a half of the base price, and a shady buyer offering the full base price.
81-90	A buyer offering the full base price.
91 or higher.	A shady buyer offering one and a half times the base price, no questions asked.