Happy Halloween! With the early release of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, DMs will find a trove of treats to help plan their adventures (and a few tricks for their players, as well). Among these invaluable resources are traps, hazards, premade maps, and rollable tables full of inspiration.

In this article, we’re going to show you how to use these goodies to homebrew a spooky Halloween one-shot!

• Creating a Spooky Adventure Using the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide
• Character Creation and Setting
• Quest and Reward
• An Unsettling Welcome
• Arriving at the Haunted House
• Exploring the Haunted House
• Ending the Adventure

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Creating a Spooky Adventure Using the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide

Artist: Kent Davis

The Map

The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide comes with 15 premade maps that are easy to drop into your sessions on the go. They span a wide variety of themes, from a Wizard’s Tower to a Farmstead, and can be used across any campaign or situation.

For our example, I found the Spooky House map in Appendix B, which features a three-level mansion just waiting to be filled with terrifying trials. This will be a fantastic base from which to build our adventure.

Click below for a full-sized version of the DM and player's maps.

Artist: Dyson Logos

The Premise

I wanted to prepare an adventure for a low-level party because we’re going for more of a grounded feel, and I want the party to be afraid with their meager resources. If the house was, say, a conduit for the Far Realm, it could challenge adventurers up to level 16 or even 20.

The Level 1-4 Adventure Situations table in chapter 4 offered the perfect premise for this adventure:

An evil cult is spreading in a village. Those who oppose the cult are marked for sacrifice.

Then, to further flesh out my adventure, I looked at the Dungeon Quirks table in chapter 3 and found this:

Intended as a death trap to eliminate any creature that enters, perhaps to guard a treasure or to harvest souls for a necromantic rite.

Who doesn’t love a good death trap? But, finally, how are our heroes going to be involved in this adventure? In the Patron Hooks table in chapter 4, I found:

A wealthy patron who is aware of the adventurers’ accomplishments writes to them, offering to pay them for their talents.

Perfect. Stroke the party’s ego and promise them gold. Then, let them loose in a meat grinder dungeon.

Character Creation and Setting

Artist: Chris Rallis

This adventure is meant for a party of level 4 adventurers. At this level, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide suggests adventurers have started to make a name for themselves but are still focused on helping out the little folk, like those in the village of Ashbrook:

The Village of Ashbrook

The townsfolk of Ashbrook hadn’t paid much mind to the derelict mansion at the village’s edge in recent years, but when a local shepherd vanished after his nightly rounds near the property, concern began to stir in the village. When the townsfolk went to investigate, three sheep from his flock were found dead outside the manor, partly devoured by rats.

After this grisly discovery, Mayor Rowan sent the blacksmith and barkeeper to search for clues of the shepherd’s whereabouts in the mansion, but neither of them returned.

Fearful of the fate of the missing townsfolk, and with rising unease spreading through Ashbrook, the mayor has sent word to a band of local heroes (your party) to help resolve this mysterious threat.

Disciples of Bhaal

Little do the citizens of Ashbrook know that a cult devoted to Bhaal, the god of murder, has taken up residence in the abandoned mansion. They chose this location because the unwary citizens of this remote village are the perfect fodder to fuel their dark ritual.

On the eve of the approaching harvest moon, the cultists plan on sacrificing their captives as an offering to Bhaal that will grant them terrible power in return.

Adding This Adventure to Your Setting

This village can be anywhere in the remote countryside of any setting. You can also replace Bhaal’s disciples with any dark god or demon-worshiping cult.

Quest and Reward

The party receives the following note from the mayor:

Ashbrook is a peaceful place, but in the last fortnight, strange things have happened. Several of our own have gone missing in a derelict manor on the outskirts of our quaint village. We fear the worst but have hope that they are still alive.

Please, if you can, rescue these beloved townsfolk—or at least discover what has befallen them. We can offer gold and perhaps something more in exchange for your services.

— Mayor Rowan

An Unsettling Welcome

Upon arrival in Ashbrook, the townsfolk watch the characters with wary eyes and are reluctant to acknowledge the mansion at the edge of town.

Many turn away or mutter hasty excuses when the topic arises. Rumor has it that even talking about the place invites a curse, and the villagers are too frightened to risk such a fate.

If they seek out the mayor, she tells them the information found in “The Village of Ashbrook” section above.

Destruction is Not an Option. The mayor has considered burning down the manor but still hopes that the missing people are alive somewhere in the building.

Arriving at the Haunted House

The mansion sits on a tall hill on the outskirts of the village. Signs of malevolence radiate from the house, affecting nearby animals and plants:

Blight. Trees and plants within 100 feet of the house (including the tree in the courtyard) have lost their leaves and begun graying. Only the front door is easily accessible, as the shrubs and ivy surrounding the house have turned into overgrown razorvine.

No Critters. Animals avoid the area except for a hungry Swarm of Rats that attacks the players once they enter the courtyard.

Exploring the Haunted House

Artist: Diana Cearley

As the party explores the mansion, use the Spooky House map to describe what they see. For example, the northwest room on the ground floor is a dining room, and the southeast room has a piano that used to be for entertaining guests.

Ground Floor. The ground floor is staged with traps to weaken anyone who enters so they can be captured by the cultists. For the purposes of this adventure, the staircase down to the cellar in the west wing should remain hidden until the characters have explored the upstairs. If the party comes across a hidden door, it can be detected using the Search action (DC 15).

Upstairs. The upstairs is haunted by hostile spirits who have been stirred up by the cult’s foul intentions, and even the cultists dare not explore it.

Cellar. The cellar is where the cultists keep their prisoners and have begun to prepare for their fell ritual.

Ground Floor Encounters

To fill out the trap-laden rooms on this floor, I took ideas from the “Traps” and “Hazards” sections of chapter 3 and organized them into a random encounter table with some applicable monster and atmospheric events.

When the party enters a distinct area of the ground floor for the first time, roll on the encounter table below. Reroll any encounters that have already occurred, other than the 1-2 result. Once all events have occurred, stop rolling on the table:

Cultists Attack

Four Cultists and a Cult Fanatic emerge from the cellar. If the party hasn’t been attempting to be stealthy, the cultists are alert to the fact that someone is in the mansion. If this event is rolled in a room with a secret entrance to the cellar, the characters are surprised and have Disadvantage on their Initiative roll.

Upstairs Encounters

When the party enters a room for the first time, roll on the encounter table below. Reroll any encounters that have already occurred. Once both events have occurred, stop rolling on the table:

Cellars

Cultists of Bhaal. The cellar contains two Cult Fanatics and eight Cultists. If the Cultists Attack event is triggered on the ground floor, reduce the number of cultists in the cellar by the amount included in that encounter. The cultists are distracted, preparing for their ceremony.

Cultists Location. The cultists are gathered in the west-most room of the cellar. If the party enters the cellar through the eastern secret door, they can hear chanting through the secret door that separates the western room from the hallway.

Captured Townsfolk. The shepherd, blacksmith, and barkeeper are Unconscious and manacled to the pillars in the center of the western room. They each use the Commoner stat block and have 1 Hit Point.

Ending the Adventure

When the cultists are defeated and the townsfolk are rescued, the party can return to the village and collect their reward of 200 GP per character.

Blacksmith Reward. If the blacksmith is returned alive, he provides the characters a +1 Weapon of their choice.

Barkeeper Reward. If the barkeeper is returned alive, she provides the characters with a Potion of Animal Friendship.

Shepherd Reward. If the shepherd is returned alive, he provides the characters with a Staff of Birdcalls.

Bastion Reward. The mayor may also reward the party with the spooky house as a Bastion (see chapter 8 of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his partner, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.