It was already a freezing morning when you set out for the legendary “Castle of Madness” – the mysterious castle that is said to emerge from blizzards once every seven winters. Now, as it grows dark, the mountains’ glacial winds of this valley make the temperature seem hundreds of times colder. Both hands wrap your winter cloak tightly around your body, but somehow you can still feel the ice-sharded winds as if on bare skin.

You squint your eyes down at your weapon and wonder if it has become frozen to your belt. Nothing alive can possibly live in these temperatures, you reassure yourself, pushing back thoughts of the living dead you’ve heard emerge with the castle.

Soon, you can make out the faint ruined form of the castle up ahead. The old crone’s rotting map was right! Your best guess tells you it’s another hour’s walk in the harsh cold. Before you have time to think about the longer walk, you spot a gaping black opening in the snow. It must be a cave. The crone told you that underground tunnels could also lead into the castle. Could this be one? Or is it the lair of some beast?

• If you decide to explore the cave, go to 12 [1-50].
• If you decide to continue your cold trek to the castle, go to 19 [51-100].
• Roll 67

You stumble another half-hour in the snow. The cave was probably the home to a pack of yetis, or ice fiends. It’s a good thing you avoided it.

Unfortunately, the cold winds have begun to take their toll. Make a DC 8 Constitution (Survival) check. If you fail, you suffer 1 hp damage from hypothermia and are exhausted and suffer disadvantage on your next roll. (Survival: 20)

You stare up at the looming castle. Its stone has been covered with sheets of ice as thick as your body. With any luck, you won’t have to climb up the walls to find an entrance.

• If you decide to circle around the castle looking for an entrance, go to 3 [1-50].
• If you decide to use your pitons and rope to climb the wall to a window, go to 35 [51-100].
• Roll 4

Snow crunching underfoot, you jog along the intact half of the castle. Just as you begin to tire, you spot a broken gateway, where once armored guards stood with tall halberds. The portal lies open and shattered and leads into the courtyard of the castle.

You swing under the broken gate and look around. Dozens of statues – most crumbled – litter the courtyard. You see two doors beyond the statue graveyard. The smaller one seems to be a servant’s entrance; the other seems to be a guardhouse door.

• If you search the courtyard, go to 43 [1-33].
• If you go through the servant’s door, go to 14 [34-66].
• If you go through the guardhouse, go to 11 [67-100].
• Roll 54

You approach the guardhouse door and push on it. No luck. Apparently, the guardhouse door is either locked or frozen shut.

• You can use your dagger to try prying the lock. Go to 18 [1-50].
• Or, you can try to force the door open. Go to 40 [51-100].

The old door is heavy, and may even be locked, but you push with all your might. Make a DC 12 Strength check to break down the sturdy door. (Strength:25)

• If you succeed, go to 30.
• If you fail, you can try prying the lock. Go to 18.
• If you’ve already failed prying the lock, or just want to try the servant’s door, go to 14.

You push the door inwards and hear it slam against the wall sharply. Waiting for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, you look around the room. A dozen skeletons in tattered armor lie against the walls of the room. You swallow hard, and then quickly examine the skeletons. You see no injuries on them. Apparently, these men locked themselves in this room and died here.

You let out a small cry when you see a pale blue rat scurry across the floor. You’ve never heard of ice rats before, but you chide yourself for having been startled so easily.

Searching the room, you find that most of the weapons and armor have rusted away a long time ago. Make a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check. (Perception: 10)

• If you succeed, go to 13.
• If not, go to 6.

As you are about to leave, you spot a tarnished, silver ring on one of the skeletons. You pull it off and examine it. Apparently, it was the captain of the guard’s signet ring. Pocketing it, you head out the door for the servant’s entrance.

• Go to 14.

You need to duck your head to get into the servant’s entrance – the door frame collapsed years ago. After your eyes adjust to the dim entrance way, you see that some great creature entered the castle here. Giant footprints have cracked through the wood of the floor here, and age-old blood has been spattered against the walls. It gives you a shiver to think of what kind of creature attacked the castle.

Digging through some old supplies, you uncover a skeleton of a dead servant. You’re not sure if it was a man or woman, as only tattered cloth lies around its bones.

• If you search the area around the corpse, go to 16 [1-50].
• If you continue onward, go to 33 [51-100].
• Roll 70

You continue onward, and find yourself in a banquet hall of sorts. Shattered plates and a broken banquet table lie in the middle of the room. Several tapestries hang from the walls, and there seems to be a large hole in the floor under a particularly tattered one.

• If you examine the hole, go to 55 [1-50].
• If you examine the tapestries, go to 23 [51-100].
• Roll 35

Holding on to a marble railing, you begin to climb up the long spiral stairs that surely leads up to one of the castle’s turrets. As you make your way up, you notice that the steps are worn and icy from years of being exposed to the elements. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. (Acrobatics: 14)

• If you succeed, go to 59.
• If not, go to 29.

Your foot slips up the stairs once, but your tight hold on the railing saves you from a nasty fall down the steps. You have to drag yourself up the last few steps, since the ice is about as thick as your fist.

Pulling your way onto a cold landing, where the wind whips through open windows and chills you to the bone, you glance around this ancient lookout tower. It seems all barren, except for a lone crossbow mounted on the wall. You pull it down and strap it to your back. You’ve never used a crossbow before, but it may come in handy later.

You kick the dirty snow beneath the crossbow and find what you were looking for – a single, rusty bolt. You’ll have one shot with this crossbow. Happy that you found anything at all in this crumbling tower, you carefully make your way down the stairs.

• You can go explore the bedrooms more. Go to 28 [1-50].
• Or, you can skip the bedrooms and go down the main corridor. Go to 25 [51-100].
• Roll 34

Unfortunately, most of the bedroom entries have collapsed and now lie blocked with rubble and debris. You go down the hall, pushing on doors until you find one that opens.

Peering into the room, you quickly discover that this was once a child’s bedroom. Old wooden toys lie on the floor. Many are broken, others are still intact. You pick up a finely-carved wooden chariot toy. It seems to be holding figurine of a white-haired queen.

You take the chariot toy and figurine and place it gently into your sack. Your niece might like this one.

The small bed in the room is still intact, but as you come closer, you notice an oily and rancid smell coming from the mattress.

• If you return to the main corridor and go down it, go to 25 [1-50].
• If you draw your weapon and lift the mattress, go to 58 [51-100].
• Roll 87

Grasping your knife tightly – the space around the bed is too small to wield your main weapon – you kick over the mattress. You jump back in shock when you see a half-eaten, bloodless corpse staring up at you.

Turning away in revulsion, you stagger back before you steady yourself for a second look. The man has only been dead for a few weeks – he’s dressed in a wind-torn cloak and has well-worn boots on the remains of his feet. Apparently, this man was exploring the castle like you. What ate him and stuffed his body in this bed, however, is beyond your imagination.

• You leave the room and head down the corridor. Go to 25.

Deciding to head towards the main part of the castle, you skip the bedrooms and head down a long, winding hallway. Much to your surprise, the castle in this part looks sturdy and complete. Perhaps it looked like this years ago when it was a newly built stronghold. You come to a stairway going downwards. The stairs are covered with a slick ice.

• Make a DC 8 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. (Acrobatics: 10) If you succeed, you carefully make your way down into a large castle chamber. Go to 33.
• If you fail, you slip down the steps and land hard on the hard stone. Take 1d4 damage. You curse your clumsiness and stand up. Go to 33.

You continue onward, and find yourself in a banquet hall of sorts. Shattered plates and a broken banquet table lie in the middle of the room. Several tapestries hang from the walls, and there seems to be a large hole in the floor under a particularly tattered one.

• If you examine the hole, go to 55.
• If you examine the tapestries, go to 23.

Some of the tapestries are still together; others are torn and destroyed. Two, in particular, catch your eye. One tapestry shows a striking, blue-eyed maiden in ornate armor, the other shows a runed axe lying on a gilded table, being presented to a white-haired queen.

Make a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check to examine these old tapestries further. (History: 7)

• If you succeed, go to 57.
• If you fail, go to 51.

You try to stuff both tapestries into your bag, but they’re just too heavy. Unless you succeed a DC 18 Strength check, you can only carry one of them. Choose now and write that down. You can take either the maiden tapestry, or the axe tapestry. When you’ve decided, you wander over to examine the hole in the floor. (Strength: 13)

• Go to 55.

Careful of the crumbling floor, you peer down into the dark hole. A horrible reek hits you, and you involuntarily snap your hand over your nose. Even in this cold weather, something down the hole smells really bad.

You look down further into the pit and see that the ground is about ten feet below where you stand. You could jump down.

Make a DC 6 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If you fail, you twist your ankle for 1 hp damage. (Acrobatics: 20)

Brushing yourself off, you look around the dimly lit chamber. You realize your torch is sputtering. Within seconds, the darkness in the chamber closes around you. You can barely make out a worn door, a few feet away, indecipherable writings slashed into its wood.

• If you creep up to the door and listen, go to 46 [1-50].
• If you go forward bravely and push the door aside, go to 7 [51-100].
• Roll 18

You carefully press your ear to the door, holding your breath to keep the stench from interrupting your concentration. Suddenly, you feel this horrible pain in your ear. You tear your ear from the door only to discover that you’re bleeding from hundreds of pores on the side of your face. You gasp and draw out your weapon.

• Take 1d4 damage from the wound. If you’re still alive, you can either run from the castle and go to 53... (2 dmg)
• ...or, you can bravely confront this dangerous menace behind the door. You relight your torch and angrily tear the half-broken door off its hinges. Go to 38.