Orren could feel the trembling of the energy in the Halls. That wasn’t their official name, of course, but Orren was the only one here, so no one cared what he called them. The Halls were Orren’s home, and no one else was able to enter. The list of those that knew of Orren’s Halls was incredibly short and probably even shorter now than it was when Orren first took up residence here. He might even have been the only one left who knew his exact location. But this was not the thought over which Orren was obsessing.

Of late, Orren had thought of only one thing. Prior to beginning his work here as Keeper of the Halls he had spent 2 years memorizing the locations, powers, dangers, strengths, weaknesses, and everything about all of the magic stored within the Halls. The Halls were actually an enormous repository of thousands of magical artifacts, beings, powers, and energies. Orren’s mind was the only catalog of all the magic within the Halls. His task was to keep them. Keep them safe. Keep them in order. Keep them from bringing further harm to the world. But now, all he wanted was to meet them.

He had lost all track of time in the Halls. All of the magic kept in the Halls was warded. These wards were not something that Orren understood. They had kept this knowledge secret from him. He did have one of the most powerful wards placed on him. This is what allowed him to consciously roam the Halls without ever stopping to eat or sleep. His body was kept safe from the passage of time. His metabolism and biological clock were frozen as they were the minute he entered the Halls for the first time.

Orren began experimenting with ways to dispel the wards. He thought if he could use his knowledge of magical weaknesses he could find a way to loose one of the magical beings stored in the Halls. As his attempts continued to fail he decided to turn his efforts on the ward most familiar to him; the one keeping him alive.

His success came more quickly than he expected. His imminent demise was not what motivated him to turn this success into more attempts to dispel other wards. Rather than fear of death Orren continued to be motivated by his loneliness. He knew of two powerful beings that lived deep inside the Halls. He knew that the ward protecting these beings was similar to his own and he thought this represented his best chance at companionship.

The act of freeing them was his final undoing. The magical energy radiating from the release of these beings tore at his flesh, but he didn’t notice. The violent and angry screams of the beings he was releasing seemed to make the energy burn more fiercely. He could have felt the screams tear into his flesh. He could have heard the Halls breaking and crumbling around him. Instead, all he could feel was the joy of hearing another voice besides his own.

Outline

· Introduction

· The Broken Halls (Three Choices)

· Wrought Iron Door

· Behind the Tree

· Rotting Door (1 Shard)

· Encounters (Can happen in any order)

· The Goat

· The Storeroom

· The Gems

· The Stone Snakes (1 Shard)

· The Man

· Mirrors

· The Forest (1 Shard)

· The Empty Room

· Armor and Fire

· Karthsathis (2 Shards)

· The Endless Stairs

Introduction

This Campaign can be played in any world in which magic exists. It also has the potential to leave all within it doubting their ability to judge the world around them for whether or not it is real.

As always I would like to encourage you to play this campaign in any manner you would like. Many of these encounters and/or rooms could serve as encounters in other stories. Some could even possibly inspire entire campaigns of their own. Don't feel tied down to the writings here. Feel free to let your imagination and creativity run wild.

The reason your players find themselves inside the Broken Halls is completely up to you. The entrance could literally look like anything. Perhaps it appears to be an underground passage beneath some ancient ruins. Perhaps they must pass through an ethereal wall in a hidden cupboard deep underground beneath a magical university’s campus. Perhaps they find an abandoned hut in the forest while looking for a missing child. Just keep in mind that the entrance is magically hidden with a powerful ward, but the magic behind the ward is broken, and its intent to hide itself may actually entice your players inside.

Throughout the Broken Halls your PCs will encounter a lot of different types of magic. In the Broken Halls most of the magic can be resisted and the result of resistance rolls has a direct effect on the outcome of each encounter. In an effort to make this work for as many different systems as possible I have simply included rough percentages that represent what should be your average PCs chance to resist these spells. Any special abilities that might affect a PCs ability to resist magic can and should be used. Resisting the magic of the Broken Halls is not always the preferred option, but your PCs will not know this until too late in many cases.

In reality, the Broken Halls consists of 3 large hallways buried underground and stacked directly on top of one another. And below these hallways a single, hexagonal room. Each of the hallways has a staircase at the end that leads to the hallway below in such a way that those passing through the halls zigzag down into the final room below. These hallways are lined with shelves, drawers, cupboards, closets and all sorts of storage along the walls.

Each and every location has a specific magical object stored inside of it. These magical objects were deemed too dangerous by a society of wizards and buried here. In order to protect the objects, these wizards combined their strength to create a magical being known as the Warder. The essence of the being is tied to a Crystal that they placed in the lowest room in the Halls. The Warder is a powerful and logical being that has complete control over the reality of the Broken Halls. This means that when people enter they see only what the Warder wants them to see. By design the Warder trusted only Orren. For anyone else who entered the Halls, the Warder changed reality to ensure that they could never obtain any of the magical items contained within the Halls.

The day that Orren decided to break the trust of the Warder, the Warder’s crystal shattered and scattered throughout the halls. The damage to the physical form of the Warder also damaged its logical mind. As it shattered it felt Orren’s loneliness and it felt Orren’s death. These two combined to create a curiosity within the Warder. It now desires to feel more death, and it does this by trapping many within its Halls and finding new ways to end them. The Warder also wanted to understand Orren’s loneliness and thus tries to understand companionship by keeping some who wander into the Halls trapped forever in the Warder’s false realities, or allowing them to get closer to the Warder than its creators would have wanted.

As time progresses and the Warder continues to use its power to warp the reality within the Halls, the Warder slowly weakens. This weakening can be accelerated by any who enter the Halls and defeat the traps and monsters created by the Warder, though few are strong enough to do so.

Once inside the Broken Halls your PCs will have choices that seem to lie before them. Depending on which they choose it may change their path through the Halls, but remember that the Warder controls the reality here and will force them to go through each of these encounters with the hope that they can gather the Crystal Shards and put them back together again. The PCs will also find that between almost every room in the Broken Halls there is a hallway leading to the next room. They may also encounter some doors that lead only to dead ends.

As Crystal Shards are gathered, the PCs will notice that they seem to fit together very well, but they leave small gaps where smaller shards seem to have broken off. They will also notice that if the pieces are brought close to one another they begin to hum in a low pitch. As more of them are brought together, the pitch heightens. They would also be able to infer from the shards that once put back together the Crystal will likely be about the size of a normal human head. The Crystal is unlike any they have ever seen before, its color shifts constantly and it is hexagonal in shape coming to a blunt point on the top and bottom.

The first time the PCs encounter a Crystal Shard they must make a spell resist roll with a 30% chance to resist. Any who resist only see the Crystal Shard. For those that do not resist a voice can be heard which seems to come from the Crystal Shard, “I've been shattered and then scattered all over this place. Please put me back together."

Some of the beings that the PCs encounter during their stay in the Broken Halls are so powerful that they are able to take advantage of the Warder’s weakened state in order to communicate with the PCs. Whether they intend to help or harm the PCs is a judgment the PCs must make for themselves.

The Broken Halls

Regardless of how they find themselves inside the Broken Halls, the first thing the players encounter is a stairwell leading downward. As they begin down the stairs they are engulfed in a strange darkness. The air around them chills rapidly and no light can be seen up or down the stairs. If they decide to go up they find that the stairs are literally endless. If they travel for an extended time they would see blue, white and purple magical swirling energies seeming to continually form more and more steps ahead of them. No matter how far up they travel they must only travel downward for 2 minutes at a normal walking speed before they reach the bottom. If they have no source of light they would have to travel very slowly or risk falling down the stairs and this time would be increased to around 5 minutes. In this scenario they will also suffer normal minuses for blindness

At the base of the stairs there is a small 10 foot by 10 foot (about 3 meters by 3 meters) platform, 3 walls, and a single door on each wall. Once all of the players exit the stairs the platform is lit by a supernatural, grey, and very dim light that allows them to see these doors even without any other light source. The floor, walls and ceiling are all carved stone. All three doors are wooden, but they are each unique.

The first door has a giant tree root growing from the ceiling around it. The door has a strange rune carved into it, and has a simple iron handle

The second door has wrought iron cast into the heavy wood. It has an intricate iron design cast into the door frame as well. This door is very heavy.

The third door appears to be carved from a single piece of wood, but the wood is aged and beginning to rot down one side, as if water had continually run down one side.

The first room is a choice for the PCs. They may even enter one room and decide to go back to try a different one. After this first room it truly does not matter the order in which the next rooms happen. None of them are happening in reality or even in a space that is similar to the rooms. Some have lasting effects that will continue into other rooms. The only thing that is critical is that the PCs are driven to gather all 5 of the Crystal Shards.

If the PCs simply choose one of these three rooms and continue down this path they will still encounter the other two rooms, though the physical location of these rooms may seem extremely different to the PCs then the first time they saw these doors, this does not matter. They have no real physical location anyways.

Wrought Iron Door

As the door opens it reveals a simple looking room with four stone walls and a stone ceiling. Once all PCs pass through the threshold, the door vanishes leaving only a stone wall. If any PCs refuse to enter for any period of time, the door will appear to have vanished from the inside, but only to have closed for any remaining outside of the room. Any attempts to open it fail and no sound can be heard in either direction. Once the encounter in the room is resolved the door will return, and become unlocked. The endless stairs upwards will remain.

Once inside the room the PCs would start to hear growling and snarling, as well as faint clicking coming from the space opposite where the door used to be. This growling would seem to be coming from multiple invisible sources in the room, some of which seem to be pacing back and forth. Any PCs looking in that direction can make a spell resist roll which should give a standard PC about a 25% chance of seeing through the Spell that causes the hounds, which are the source of the growling, to be invisible. This Spell causes the hounds to not only be invisible to any who fail to resist, but the hounds are also impervious to all types of attacks from any who cannot see them. The Spell is an enchantment on the room and as such a single successful resist is enough to allow anyone to see all of the hounds present in the room. This resistance roll can only be made once unless your game system has rules that would not allow for such a restriction. The PCs would quickly notice an odor of sulfur in the room even if they do not resist the spell hiding the hounds from them.

There is one hound for each PC.Their eyes are devoid of definition, and seem to simply be glassy black orbs. These hounds have black, leathery skin which is completely bald. Their paws are tipped with overly large, black claws, which accounts for the clicking heard earlier. They appear to be gaunt from starvation, but where their skin is taut against the bone a green glow can be seen glowing through. This light burns through their black skin and lights the room faintly for any who resist their invisibility magic. After about 20 seconds of growling, pacing and snarling they would all attack at once trying to weaken as many of the PCs as possible in their first assault. Each time a PC is attacked they are again allowed to roll to resist the magic that hides these hounds, but their chance to resist is increased to 50%. These hounds have low hit points and deal low-to-moderate damage. If seen immediately by all PCs they will likely be easy to dispatch, but as this is unlikely the hounds can be a dangerous foe.

The hounds have one additional attack that allows them to shoot green-glowing lava from their mouths at anyone within spitting distance. This attack deals low damage, but sets the target on fire burning them for the same damage for 2 more rounds or until the fire is put out. This attack can only be used against targets that can see the hounds.

As soon as all of the hounds are taken care of the door behind the PCs returns and is unlocked. Another unlocked door will also appear on the opposite wall.

Behind the tree

Once this door is opened the PCs can see into what appears to be a very large room with a brazier in the center. The room has a low, supernatural hum echoing off of its walls. As the PCs enter the room they would notice that the room is oval shaped with stone walls. All around the outer wall of the room there are large piles of somewhat melted metal. Looking more closely at these piles it can be seen that they appear to be made up of partially melted brass instruments: pan pipes, flutes, trumpets, horns, bells and all sorts of instruments.

During the first 10-20 seconds in the room the PCs would start to notice the very quiet playing of a flute. The song is upbeat and whimsical. Any who stay in the room long enough to hear the song must make a magic resist roll with a 15% chance to resist. Any who do not resist are drawn towards the brazier in the center of the room. As they approach they can see a beautiful woman made of fire dancing in the center of the brazier. Her dance is entrancing and beautiful to all who can see it. Those who fail to resist this spell are struck with an overwhelming compulsion to approach the fire and watch the dance. They will also likely speak to one another about the beauty of the dancer and the grace of her dance. They will encourage all others in the room to come and watch the dance.

Any who successfully resist the spell cannot see the dancer in the fire. In order to have a chance to see the dancer they must fully exit the room through the still open door and then re-enter. Upon re-entering they will immediately hear the flute being played again and be forced to make their resistance roll.

While there is nothing explaining this to the PCs and they may never be able to figure it out, in order to pass this room all of the PCs must fail to resist and watch the dancer complete her dance. Once all are entranced by her dancing she will grow in the fire until she stands 5 feet tall. Her dance will continue for a period of time that the PCs would have no way of measuring, but they would find themselves exhausted and falling asleep. When they awaken 50% of any damage they may have suffered in the Halls at this point would be healed, the piles of metal and fire are gone from the room and only the cold and empty brazier remains. They would notice a second passageway on the wall opposite the one through which they entered. It appears that the stone was melted with an immense heat that cause it to pool on the ground. It has since cooled and hardened again leaving an opening into a stone walled hallway on the other side of where the wall once stood.

If any of the PCs successfully resist the spell they would be unable to pass this room. After 15 minutes the fire would burn out, the song and the dancing will end and all players will be released from their trance. If they remain in the room for another 15 minutes the fire would light itself and the song would start again. All in the room would again have to make spell resist rolls. Any attempts to light the fire during the time it is burnt out would succeed normally, the song would begin again and the PC would have to make spell resist rolls. Any attempts to put out the fire would succeed normally, end the song, and release all players caught in the trance.

If the PCs are unable to pass this room and decide to backtrack, just be sure to give them a new direction to travel that can lead to the next room. They may continue to encounter this room over and over until they are able to pass it.

rotting door

Behind this door is a large stone walled room. Floating in the center of the room about 5 feet above the ground is what appears to be a crescent moon shaped shard of a broken crystal. Once all PCs enter the room, or as soon as any of the PCs attempt to touch the crystal it will burst into blinding white light. The flash of light vanishes in an instant, but all PCs whom the light touches are blinded in the comparable blackness. As their eyes begin to adjust to the room the PCs can see a bright light coming from a window on one wall. They find themselves standing in the center of a small log cabin with no doors, and no force is able to open the windows or cause any damage to the structure of the cabin. In the center of the room is a metal pedestal with a clear glass decanter filled with a deep blue liquid. Next to the decanter is a glass tea cup and a metal hammer with runes engraved deeply in the head of the hammer. The world outside the cabin is beautiful and green with colorful flowers blooming on the ground and in the trees. If the PCs remain here long enough they would notice that they cannot see the sun and it does not seem to be moving judging by the shadows on the ground.

In the event that any PCs manage to evade being touched by the light from the crystal they will find themselves exactly where they were, but all of their allies have vanished. Within a few seconds they would reappear exactly as they do once this encounter is complete. As magic is the cause of the light and the vision of the cabin there would be a chance for your PCs to resist even if the light does touch them. This should be an extremely small chance (less than 5%), but possible.

Those of the PCs that do not resist the magic of the crystal would probably not notice the outside world for quite a while. They would even be distracted from the pedestal, hammer and crystal glassware. The most obvious thing in the room is the strangers surrounding them. Each of the PCs affected by this spell have their physical appearance changed into a much less threatening version of themselves. The grizzled war veteran would appear to be a rosy cheeked and overweight innkeeper. The werewolf appears as a terrier. As they begin to speak they would recognize each other’s voices, and they would quickly notice the vast change in their own physicality and appearance. None of these changes would interfere with their normal ability to communicate with one another.

The crux of this encounter is the liquid in the center of the room. The obvious choices before the PCs are either to use the tea cup to drink the liquid or to use the hammer to break the glass. None of the other objects in the room allow much interaction if any at all. Any PCs that choose to drink the liquid experience 15 seconds of nothing and then an immediate pain wracking throughout their entire body. The source of the pain is a bright light emanating from their skin. This light is shaped into runes and burns across their entire body. The burning will not stop and would bring even the heartiest of the PCs to their knees, screaming. The burns are extremely uncomfortable, but cause no physical damage. As the burning continues, the affected PC turns back into their normal self. This burning will continue until all PCs have either made their choice or have a choice made for them.

If one PC chooses to break the decanter the blue liquid expands extremely rapidly. The liquid keeps rushing from the pedestal as if thousands of gallons of liquid are being poured into the room from the decanter. This would sweep any of the PCs off of their feet and as it does it would change them back to their normal bodies. Any of the PCs that had already drank the liquid would find the rush of liquid instantly soothes their pains and stops the burning. Those that had not drank of the liquid would feel several sharp pains while swirling in the water. The glass shards from the decanter are attacking them and sinking deep into their flesh and causing them not only the pain, but a very small amount of damage. These PCs would have a 10% chance to resist these attacks and be saved from this pain and damage.

The swirling water would be completely disorienting to the players, but would quickly subside. The PCs would find themselves soaking wet and laying on a stone floor in the center of a floating room. Any PCs left behind would simply see them soaking wet, or be drawn back to the room by the sounds of their choking and coughing. Those who were attacked by the glass decanter shards will find a small cut in each of their legs and arms. They would likely be unaware of the fact that the glass is inside of them unless they dig into the wounds, which would likely cause more damage. These shards can be removed by anyone skilled enough to remove them (such as a surgeon or doctor), and depending on their level of skill and the method of removal there may be more damage caused in the process of removal as you deem appropriate.

Those with the glass shards in their limbs would intermittently feel a deep burning from the glass. This could happen at almost any time at your discretion. It would slightly reduce the accuracy of any attacks they make (giving them small minuses to strike/attack) but also give them moderate bonuses to damage. Those with the glowing runes would also gain this exact same bonus to damage from time to time, but without suffering any minuses to their attacks. While this is active their runes glow brightly which may be a major problem for any stealthy PCs. All of these bonuses and minuses happen at exactly the same time for exactly the same duration for all affected PCs and seem to have no exact trigger or frequency. It just happens from time to time at your discretion. They also both only function while inside the Broken Halls. Once out of the Broken Halls the runes and glass shards will disappear.

As all of the PCs are trying to catch their breath and cough up the liquid that made it into their lungs, they notice the crystal shard again floating in the center of the room. It slowly begins to lower towards the ground and the Crystal Shard lays gently on the floor and continues to glow dimly. The PCs can see another door on the far side of the room opposite the direction in which they entered.

Encounters

The goat

This room is rather small with nothing but stone walls. The floor is covered in straw and a few hay bales are piled up in the corner. Standing atop the bales is a goat with a mouth full of hay. There is another wooden door across the room near the corner opposite the goat. The goat cocks its head and bleats loudly at the PCs as they enter the room. The goat will playfully jump up and down the pile of hay bales. It would tentatively approach any PCs that stay in the room for any time at all. The goat is female with a red ribbon around her neck holding a brass bell that rings as she moves. She is very curious about the intruders, but tries to keep her distance.

No amount of searching in this room could ever turn up anything but besides hay, straw and a goat. There is nothing at all seemingly unique about any of it. The doors are unlocked, and the goat would remain in the room once all leave. Or so it seems.

The goat is a powerful and mischievous magical spirit. Even if this physical form is killed by the PCs it will continue to reappear and follow them from room to room. Though it is not necessarily present in every room, it always appears as the goat and comes and goes as it pleases. This spirit likes to show up during combat and basically get in the way. It will be standing behind your PCs as they move backwards. It will run up to them and bleat at them, bell ringing loudly, as they are trying to sneak around. It will run and jump off of them as they fight. Basically getting in the way as much as possible. Your PCs may notice that its bleat sounds like laughter at their misfortune.

the storeroom

This room is a giant storeroom. It would appear to be an enormous and very well organized general store. The size of this room is truly endless with aisle after aisle of goods. In the center of the room is a great, leather bound ledger laying on a small, wooden table covered in a thick, wool tablecloth. Inside this ledger are thousands and thousands of pages. These pages contain the details of all items within the store room. The front half of the book has the information of the previously sold items. Each of these items has a price and a signature line with a different signature next to each of the items. The back half of the book is the current inventory of the storeroom. Each of these items has a blank line for a signature next to its price.

The ledger can always be found just around the corner as long as the PCs desire to find it. The items within the ledger can be found in the same way. The knowledge of the name of the item and the desire to find it will lead the PCs directly to it. They simply know where it is. They would also know as soon as they find the ledger that it is important to pay for and sign for any items they take.

Players are welcome to pay for and sign for any items they can afford. The storeroom has an almost infinite number of items, and you can use this as an opportunity to equip your PCs with anything you can imagine. This is a magical storehouse after all. (Torches and a way to start a fire may be great options)

Once any PC makes any purchase, they immediately realize that underneath the table upon which the ledger sits is a hatch. If they open it they would find a spiral staircase downward. This is the only exit from this room. This hatch cannot be seen until a purchase is made, or the bray that guards the storehouse is awakened.

If any PCs make any attempt whatsoever to steal any items they would immediately hear a loud grumble echoing throughout all of the storeroom. If they immediately put the item back and abandon their intentions to steal it, the grumbling would end. If they do not, the grumbling would turn into a roar. All of the items on the shelves will immediately disappear as well as the item the PC was stealing. Any items already paid and signed for would remain. The sounds of shelves being destroyed by a large and roaring beast is all that can be heard throughout the storeroom. The table that once held the ledger will also vanish revealing a wooden hatch in the floor. If the hatch is open a small spiral staircase can be found below and can be used as an escape. As long as the PCs are leaving the storehouse the beast would stop its approach and simply roar its approval at them.

If they do not attempt to escape they would quickly see a very large creature burst through the nearby shelves as the sounds of planks of wood scattering on the floor around the PCs are drowned out by the fangs, drool and roaring of the beast standing before them. Its head is enormous and looks like a lion, but either three eyes, the third eye bulging through its mane on the top if its head. This head is placed directly on top of the broad shoulders of its bear-like body. The beast stops and roars, threateningly spraying the PCs with the foam from its mouth. This is their last chance to simply leave through the nearby door in the floor. If they choose to stay and fight, the beast will attack them viciously. Its attacks come slowly, but it puts all of its strength into its high damaging attacks. The beast takes half damage from any physical attacks that are not critical strikes and has high health.

Once the beast is slain, there is nothing left in the room. Nearly all of the shelves have been broken and lay scattered across the otherwise empty storeroom. The staircase below the hatch is the only exit any surviving PCs will be able to find.

the gems

In the center of this room lies a pile of gems. The room has a very dim light of its own with no apparent source, but if the PCs have a light source they would see their light glimmering off of the gems in the center of the room.

As the PCs enter the room they will notice the gems beginning to stir. They move as if all part of one form. As they rise from the floor they begin to swirl more and more rapidly until they take the shape of one of the PCs. The gems do not look exactly like the PC besides as a silhouette, they still look like a grouping of gems spiraling around each other. The gems will cycle through all of your PCs and take on their appearance and abilities. They will use their powers against them in vicious attacks. The gems will change from one PC to the next after being struck successfully twice. Once they have taken on the form of all of the PCs they will collapse to the ground in a spiral and finally lay lifeless on the ground. Among the gems the PCs will find a key that will open the next door. The gems themselves are a translucent and beautiful hue of blue.

Something you may want to keep in mind here is that some of your PCs may be able to easily kill themselves or their allies in a single attack. If this is a concern with your PCs you may want to consider having the gems only deal a percentage of the damage the PCs normally deal.

the stone snakes (1 Shard)

This room is almost completely composed of stone. The only exception to this is 4 gleaming rubies. These rubies make up the eyes of two giant stone-carved snakes that are to the left and right of the PCs as they enter the room. The two stone snakes remain statuesque and unmoving as the PCs enter. The only door in the room is the one through which the PCs enter. Once all enter the door will close behind them. Close is not exactly the right word, as the truth of the situation is that the room begins spinning, and the door is left behind. As the spinning starts, any light source in the room, whether magical, natural or otherwise, will go out. The spinning accelerates until the PCs are forced against the outside walls. Any PCs that can see in the dark would see the snakes quickly slither towards the walls and out as the room began to spin.

As quickly as it began, the spinning would stop. The PCs would find themselves on walls opposite one another, and see that to their left and to their right are hallways extending into the darkness. The low rumbles of stone grinding on stone and threatening hisses can be heard coming from one direction. A low blue light can be seen glowing in the other direction.

In the direction of the blue light is a floating Crystal Shard, but as the PCs approach it their movement is slowed by one half due to a thick, tar-like substance on the floor. Once they get almost to the Crystal they will hear the two stone snakes charging them from the other direction. If they instead head towards the snakes, the snakes will engage them where they do not have to struggle with the tar. These snakes are highly defensive and deal very low damage Rather than actively trying to kill the PCs, they will simply spit a low damage poison that deals damage to the PCs each round as long as the snakes remain alive. These snakes are literally made of stone and take 50% less damage from physical attacks. They do take 100% increased damage from magical sources, though. They move deceptively quickly considering their size and weight, are able to evade a lot of attacks, and have high health. They are especially difficult to attack if the PCs end up fighting them while stuck in tar. Once killed their stone turns to dust leaving only their ruby eyes laying on the ground. These rubies are nearly the size of the average human’s fist. If these are taken by any PC they would be able to keep them if they would manage to escape the Broken Halls. If ever sold, whomever these are sold to will be violently and mortally wounded within 24 hours.

the man

In this room is an ethereal man sitting in a wooden chair facing the PCs as they enter. His eyes have been gouged from his head and his abdomen is bleeding and bruised. He has clearly been tortured. He will choose at random one PC and react to only that PC. Any PC can interact normally with the chair but the main remains in the same position as if tied to it. He will react only to the voice of the chosen PC, and he will beg them for mercy and proclaim over and over that he has told them all that he can. When the chosen PC approaches him they will see a bowl of water to his left and a poker broiling in hot coals to his right.

If at any point the chosen PC chooses to show compassion to the man, he will vanish and a door will open along the wall behind him.

Mirrors

This room is octagonal in shape and each wall is a large mirror. All of these mirrors appear to be completely intact, but the floor of the room is covered in broken, reflective glass. This glass may pose a problem to any barefoot PCs or pets in the room. As the PCs enter the room a high perception roll would afford any of them an opportunity to notice some movement in one of the mirrors. If they do notice this, as they look more closely they would see a man in white robes with chin length black hair who appears to be inside the image on the mirror. The sadness on this man’s face stuns any who see him, and they are rendered unable to speak as long as he is in sight. This silence will barely last more than a second, as the black haired man will quickly step to the side and out of sight of any who noticed him.

Once all PCs enter the room or 30 seconds after the man is seen, the door behind them will close and appear to merge with the mirror. Any PCs left outside will remain outside until this encounter is resolved.

Once the door is closed the glass on the floor will begin to move. At first it seems to just be vibrations, but quickly the PCs would realize that the glass is being drawn into the center of the room. As it gets to the center it begins to swirl around and quickly forms into a vaguely humanoid figure. The glass simply spins in place for few seconds before a small burst of glass is sent outward. These bursts of glass will happen every other round and deal a small to moderate amount of damage to all PCs in the room. PCs could use each other or any objects they have to attempt to shield themselves from this onslaught and possibly reduce or negate the damage.

This glass figure does not have normal hit points, but can sustain a certain number of hits before being destroyed. Each hit removes glass from the spiral and places it back on the floor. As the encounter goes on the PCs will notice that the floor is covered in more and more glass and this may cause difficulty to any without proper shoes. As a general rule, this glass creature can sustain 5 hits per PC present. Each time it shoots out glass shards this counts as one of these hits. With each hit that it suffers and with each burst of glass the PCs would notice that some of the glass falls off of the figure and returns to the floor making the floor more and more treacherous as the fight continues. If any PC breaks one of the mirrors on the wall it will completely shatter and cover that part of the floor in glass. It will also deal ⅛ of the glass figures remaining hits as damage to it and the PCs would likely notice that a lot of glass fell to the floor and off of the figure when the mirror was broken. If all mirrors are broken the spiraling stops and the encounter is over.

Any magical attacks against this glass figure have a 30% chance to be reflected back at the attacker. Attacks reflected in this manner do not count as hits and cause no glass to be scattered back onto the floor. Keep in mind that if your PCs would be able to easily kill themselves in this manner you may need to reduce the damage by a certain percentage before reflecting it unless you want this fight to be extremely deadly to your magic users.

Once the glass figure is brought down, any and all remaining mirrors will shatter and scatter upon the ground. The wall where they entered and its opposite wall both have doors on them. Any high perception rolls might catch a glimpse of the black haired man’s eye peering out at them from one of the shards of glass on the floor. As soon as he is noticed, the man promptly disappears from sight.

The Forest (1 Shard)

As we head down a dark hallway the smell of earth fills the air. The stones appear to be broken and crumbling and give way to earth, stone and roots. A blue light can be seen ahead as the tunnel appears to open up. As the PCs continue forward they can see trees and smell fresh air breezing into the tunnel. They find themselves exiting a cave mouth and heading into a forest. Directly ahead of the cave mouth is a small, spindly tree. As the PCs approach this tree they would see that it is not actually a tree. It is growing new branches from it and seems to be rooted into the ground, but it appears to be an ornately carved wooden staff. Atop the staff sits a glowing stone which casts a warm light into the surrounding area. All touched by this light can feel its warmth. They are drawn towards the staff and feel safe in this area. There is a 15% chance to resist the magic of this staff.

Any who do not resist are overcome with this feeling of safety and desire nothing but to sleep near the tree. When they sleep they find the rest to be the greatest they have ever experienced. They would wake fully healed from any wounds they have experienced while in The Broken Halls, and feel completely rejuvenated. This healing would even heal broken bones and regrow limbs or eyes that were lost during fights in the Broken Halls.

Any who do resist would still feel the warmth of this staff and would feel comfortable enough to sleep nearby, but doing so would only provide them with a normal sleep. Any attempts to leave the area would be met with an immense and overpowering fog that can only be escaped by a desire to go back towards the staff.

Any who fail to resist would fall asleep near the staff within an hour. Once asleep nothing short of dealing damage to them will wake them up. 10 hours after they are all asleep the staff and the forest will disappear and the PCs will find themselves inside a stone-walled room with two doors. Any PCs who did not sleep during this time would see the forest disappear around them. The Staff would be nowhere to be found. The PCs would likely be unsure which door would lead them forward, but they would quickly find that one led to another familiar room and the other took them somewhere new.

Any attempts to remove the staff from the ground would reveal this it is very firmly rooted into the ground. If the Staff is cut from the ground it will cut like normal wood, but as soon as it is severed from the ground the forest and staff will disappear. Any who were sleeping and under the spell will only gain 10% of the benefits of sleeping per hour they were allowed to sleep and will not have any broken bones or other more severe injuries repaired by this healing. Meaning someone who was allowed to sleep for 5 hours would heal 50% of their wounds.

Once the forest vanishes and the PCs find themselves in the room, they will also find a Crystal Shard lying in one corner of the room.

the empty room

This room is completely empty. It has smooth stone walls, ceiling and floor, and there is a door on each wall. Other than the one through which they entered, each of these doors opens to one of the remaining rooms that the PCs have yet to encounter. Any doors that do not have a room behind them (if you do not have enough left to put one room behind each door) will simply lead to a hallway with nothing at the end of it but a stone wall.

If the PCs enter this room with all five Crystal shards in their possession they will find a latch on the floor that opens to the Endless Stairs. They will also notice that the humming of the Crystal Shards will slightly intensify.

armor and fire

As the PCs head towards this room they would notice a drop in temperature as the hallway progresses. Once near this room the PCs find that it has a warmth that can even be felt through the door. This warmth is inviting. As the PCs enter, the room feels grand. The warmth is coming from a roaring fire in a large fireplace on the back wall. The walls are draped in red and golden tapestries (if someone so desires they would be able to take these with them, though they would first have to deal with the suit of armor as described below). In the center of the room stands a suit of armor with a gleaming golden sword on its hip. The fact that this armor is empty would not be immediately apparent to your PCs as it appears to be standing upright without any sort of stand holding it in place. Behind the armor and resting upon the mantle is a small and ornate brass box with a silver lion’s head on it.

To the right of the PCs as they entered the room is another door. If the PCs head towards that door it is open and they are allowed to leave. If they instead choose to head towards the fireplace, armor and/or box, the armor will swiftly draw the sword from its hip in a defensive pose and a deep voice reverberates from within it, “Come no further!”

As soon as the armor speaks all PCs must make a resistance roll with a 60% chance to resist. Any who do not resist hear a whispering in their ear, “Please, set me free.” This voice is extremely different and more human sounding than that of the armor. Any who hear it would know that the voice comes from the box on the mantle.

If the PCs do not immediately flee, the armor will speak again, “Leave now, or suffer the consequences!” This demand is again immediately followed by pleas from the brass box to the ears of those that did not resist the magic, “Please… I am held captive here.” If the PCs continue to approach they will be attacked by the suit of armor. The armor has high health and deals high damage. Once the fighting starts, all PCs who choose to fight the armor must roll magic resist again. This time the chance to resist is 40%. Those that have already heard the voice from the brass box do not need to roll this again. Any who previously resisted must make this roll. Those who have already heard the voice from the brass box, and those who fail to resist this new roll can hear the voice from the box encouraging them as they attack the armor and evade attacks from the armor. With these shouts of encouragement their attacks are empowered and the armor’s attacks are partially deflected to help the PCs evade incoming attacks, or reduce the damage of those attacks. All of the PCs can see a shadow figure that seems to be fighting alongside them. Any physical attacks to the armor betray the emptiness of the armor with the hollow sounds that echo within it.

Once the PCs defeat the armor, any who are still alive will see the shadowy figure that has been fighting with them and empowering their attacks swirl towards the brass box and filter into it. As the shadow swirls into the box, the suit of armor crashes to the floor. The metal is now dingy and worn out. The sword, once gleaming gold, is now a moldering wooden sword; a simple, child's play thing.

Upon close inspection of the small brass box the PCs would find that it is locked and no efforts they put forth seem to be able to open, or break the box. The box is just large enough to where an average sized person could fit their fist inside of it. If any search through the armor, they will find a key hidden inside. This key will open the box. If the PCs are having difficulty here, the voice from the box will speak to those that can hear it and suggest they search the armor. As the box opens, the PCs must all make yet another resistance roll. There is only a 10% chance to resist this spell. Those that do not resist see a small heart shaped ruby attached to a silver chain inside the box. Those that do resist see a beating heart inside the box. Either way the sound of a beating heart can be heard by all.

Any who attempt to speak out against bringing the heart/ruby with them must make another resistance roll with a 40% chance to resist. Each time this is failed the chance to resist is reduce by 5%. Each time it is resisted the chance to resist is increased by 5%. This needs to be tracked for each individual PC and this chance cannot ever be increased above 95% or reduced below 5%. Feel free to take control of this and not even allow or require any affected PCs to make a roll if they continue to consistently fail or resist.

Any PCs who are in favor of keeping the heart with them during their travels will gain minor combat bonuses during any combat while the heart is in the room. These bonuses can be both offensive and defensive. As time passes the heart will continue to speak to the PCs that trust it. It will slowly attempt to convince them to give the heart blood. If they do start to give blood to the heart the bonuses they gain during combat will increase. If they give it their own blood these bonuses will increase more quickly.

karthsathis (2 Shards)

As the PCs continue down the hallway, the sounds of running water can be heard ahead. As they continue forward they can smell the scent of waste. Soon the center of the walkway will end abruptly as water is slowly moving downward into a small pipe leading underground. Forward from this point on there is a small walkway on either side of the sludge filled flow leading back towards that pipe.

In the distance, the PCs can see light that appears to be coming from a branch off in the sewers they now find themselves in. As they press towards the light they would be nearly blinded by it, but they can see that beyond these sewers lies a desert. Once they exit the sewers into the desert they would see back the way they came as they followed the sewers is a great wall that appears to be surrounding a city. If the PCs follow this wall in either direction they would find a gate to the city. Once inside or even as they approach they would notice no other people. The only thing that is moving is the air and the sand that it carries, as a steady wind gusts towards the center of the city no matter where they go.

If they push back into the sewers or even decide to remain in the sewers rather than following the light they would quickly find a ladder leading up into the city.

The city of Karthsathis is completely devoid of life. The only thing that stands out about the city is the constant wind which drives everything inward towards its center. Other than this it appears that those who built and lived her have long since packed up their things and left. Many of the walls of buildings that face outward are caked in a thick layer of sand. Any attempts at looting would turn up little besides broken furniture and other such worthless items.

If the PCs attempt to head out from the city and into the desert they will quickly find that the wind grows even stronger, and the sand stings as it hits their skin. If they continue to push outward the sandstorm is blinding. The only thing that gives them a chance to survive rather than becoming completely disoriented and stranded in the eternal sandstorm is the fact that if they follow the wind it will guide them back to the city.

If the PCs follow the wind towards the center of the city they will begin to notice a tall pillar of windblown sand reaching upwards into the sky. From the outskirts of the city it blends in with the sand colored sky due to all of the sand blowing in the air, but as they get closer they can see it more clearly. If they continue towards it they will find the palace in the center of the city. The palace appears to be shielded from the wind and the sand and this shield is deflecting the windblown sand upward and into the pillar that can be seen above. The PCs can simply walk through this threshold and into the property of the palace and once they do they find a very well preserved and windless relief from the storm. In the courtyard before the palace are several raised garden beds that contain exotic and strange flora. There is a small fountain in the center that feeds water to a man-made creek that snakes its way through the garden beds. Palm trees are scattered about the courtyard and birds can be seen perching on and flying about the trees. Perhaps the most noticeable thing in the courtyard is a giant statue of a woman. Engraved upon the base of the statue is the word “Themis”. The woman is over 3 stories tall and has her hands stretched out before her as if offering the bags she holds in each hand to any who would take them. Her cloak is long and has a hood that completely covered her face and head. There is a sword in a sheath on her hip.

If the PCs choose to experiment with the strange plant life they have found they may find some strange effects. Many of these plants are hallucinogens if ingested. Some are poisonous, and of course they may discover an allergic reaction such as a terrible and itchy rash.

If any of the PCs touch the statue of Themis a loud gong can be heard throughout the courtyard. As the sound of the gong reverberates through the courtyard, the statue begins to quake. The stone begins to crumble and turn to dust, shrinking smaller and smaller until it is the size of a normal human woman. This woman then dusts herself off, revealing normal clothes and dark bronze skin. She then turns towards the PCs, removes the hood revealing her beautiful face and deep, all-knowing eyes. “I am Themis, goddess of Justice. Why have you called me here?” she says as she quickly ties the bags to her belt and rests her hand on her sword’s hilt.

The PCs will be intimidated by her presence and beauty, but would feel no threat from her gaze or demeanor. If they try to attack her she will draw her sword and easily deflect their attacks. Magical attacks will also be redirected to and absorbed by the sword. She would remain defensive and try to convince the PCs to stop attacking her, but if they continue she would counter. She deals very high damage, but would try to hold back in order to not intentionally kill any of the PCs, but instead only incapacitate them.

For the purposes of RP, Themis truly is an avatar of the goddess of Justice. With this in mind she is very stern and will think heavily upon any questions before responding with her opinions. She speaks slowly and clearly as if each syllable has its own intention, and once her mind is made up it is nearly impossible to change it. If the PCs explain their predicament she will recognize that their situation is very unjust indeed and tell them that she knows someone who can help. Themis will then lead them towards Atenhtet.

If the PCs have the heart/heart shaped ruby with them, Themis will ask them to show it to her. Any PCs affected in any way by the spells of this heart are immune to those effects while in the presence of Themis. “This heart is that of a great evil,” Themis will warn them, “If you leave it with me, I can destroy it for you. If you take it from this place, you will doom many with your actions. As my summoners, you are free to make your choice.” If they choose to give Themis the heart she will simply smile at them and stow it in one of her bags on her hip.

Atenhtet can be found in the sewers and it is possible that the PCs will find her before they find Themis. Either way, they will find her at the end of one of the sewer tunnels in a round, open room. All but the edge of the room is sewer sludge and it appears to be draining underground through two pipes on the back wall. In the center of the room stands a brass pedestal sticking out of the ground. Sitting upon the pedestal is a stone woman with a cat’s head. Her pose seems to express a disgust and contempt for the wastewater beneath her. If Themis is with the PCs she will say, “You must call upon her as you called upon me. Atenhtet is clever and will find a way to get you home.”

Whether or not Themis is present, the moment any PC touches the statue a gong will sound and echo through the sewers. Immediately the statue will turn to dust and standing in the rubble will be a small cat. Her fur is deep, nearly black purple, and her eyes almost seem to glow green from the darkness that is her coat. She will hiss angrily at the waste water, her white teeth stark against her black fur, and then use the nearest PC(s) as a stepping stone to leap her way towards the walkway. If Themis is present she will jump upon her shoulders and purr as she rubs her back and sides on Themis’ head. Themis will shout at her to stop and knock her to the ground. “Rude!” the cat will hiss at Themis as she lands gracefully on her feet. “Who are your friends?” the cat will ask, eyeing the PCs skeptically.

If Themis is not present, Atenhtet will attempt to lead the PCs towards her. During this time she will simply continually meow at them until they follow her. Any attacks made against her will generally be outran, but she is also very agile and able to dodge. Magical attacks seem to have no effect on her. If anyone manages to capture her, the moment they take their eyes off of her she will simply teleport out of her binds/cage and continue to meow at them. If the goat is present she will chase it off.

Once she coerces the PCs into awakening Themis, Atenhtet will begin to speak with Themis. She will meet any questions about her ability to speak (and the fact that she did not use this to help the PCs) with an adorable, coy smile. When she speaks, the best description of her personality is “catty”. She is highly intelligent, playful, and has a short temper. She will tell Themis, “They need to repair the Crystal. You have a shard in one of your bags.” She gives Themis an exasperated look. “The other is guarded in the palace, the rest are scattered throughout the Halls” she continues, turning to the PCs, “Once you have them all you must go back to the empty room. You will find a door in the floor and a seemingly endless staircase beneath it. No matter what happens to you there, you cannot turn back. You must always press forward and the visions will fade. Remember, they are there only to fool you into dying on the staircase. Nothing you will see is real. You must remember this” she will only say this once and any questions following will simply be met with a toothy hiss.

Themis would promptly produce the crystal shard from her bags. “As she said, the rest are scattered throughout the rooms of the Halls. Once you have enough to repair the Crystal, you will find the door in the empty room. Atenhtet would not lead you astray. Heed her words or die in these Halls. As my summoners, you are free to choose. Come with us and we will help you get the other Crystal Shard”

If the PCs go into the palace as led by Themis and Atenhtet, they will be assailed almost immediately by 20 empty suits of armor that charge in from their various posts around the room. The armor comes in all different shapes and sizes, but Atenhtet and Themis will immediately step forward into the fray. Themis will shout at the PCs, “These enemies are immortal. We will keep them busy. Climb upwards and you will find your Crystal Shard. Do not return here, and be wary, more enemies may lie in wait above.”

Atenhtet would turn into an enormous panther and tackle two suits of armor to the ground, clearing a path towards the stairs, “Go up now!” she will hiss at the PCs and they will be able to quickly race up the stairs without risking any harm. If they miss this opportunity, they will likely have to evade multiple attacks on their way up the stairs. Themis and Atenhtet would do their best to help, but these high damaging attacks will come from the suits of armor nonetheless. If the PCs try to stay and help with the fight they would find that the suits of armor do seem to be truly immortal and Themis will plead with them to leave now before they are killed. If they manage to get up the stairs, every room on every floor is empty, but they can always find another staircase leading upwards. Once they get to the fourth floor they find a staircase, and standing before it a suit of armor. This armor is pacing back and forth. If they have been there already, this armor looks identical to the one they saw in the room with the cozy fireplace and this armor has the same high toughness and high damage. If the PCs defeat it they can extract the crystal shard from its helm.

Once this suit of armor is defeated, any PCs who survive will notice that the door at the top of the stairs that the armor seemed to be defending does not match the rest of the palace, but instead appears to be very similar to the doors found throughout the Broken Halls. If they approach it they find that it is unlocked and leads into a hallway, not far ahead is the empty room. Once they all pass through, this door will vanish behind them leaving only a stone wall.

the endless stairs

This staircase spirals down and down. Just as described by Atenhtet, the stairs seem to continue endlessly, but her words will echo in the minds of the PCs, “You must always press forward and the visions will fade. Remember, they are there only to fool you into dying on the staircase. Nothing you will see is real. You must remember this!”

As the climb downwards continues and the PCs begin to tire and complain, they will each have a vision. The vision is of a life that they deeply desire. The vision is unique to each PC and it seems extremely real to the PC. They have a vague sense in their mind that they are still on the staircase headed downward, but they will have to make a choice to either stay in the vision and live the life set before them, or continue down the stairs. They are aware of the choice and the finality of it, but it should be a difficult one.

It should be a viable option for the purposes of RP that the character remain in the dream, however if they choose to do so, their character vanishes from the stairs and will not be seen again. As far as what the vision is, this must be determined by you in order to entice your PCs as much as possible. For some it may be as simple as a certainty that they have escaped the Broken Halls in order to entice them to stay. Try your best to make it a real choice for them. If it is obvious that they die, many players would choose to continue down the stairs rather than die even if their character would actually stay. This is a pretty mean thing to do, but allow your players to truly choose even if this means separating them one at a time and revealing to them their vision. If they choose to stay in their vision they will almost certainly hate you, but to be fair to you, Atenhtet warned them.

If they choose to continue down the stairs the vision would vanish and any PCs who chose to stay in their vision would be nowhere to be found, but all of their possessions, including any Crystal Shards they may have been carrying, can be found in a neat bundle on the stairs. If the PCs continue downward at a good pace they would reach the bottom of the stairs in 15 more minutes. If none of the PCs choose to continue downward, then the game ends here and they get to live their happy lives. It would even be possible that this happier life could lead to another campaign if several of the PCs could share a vision. If they do find themselves at the bottom of the stairs, there is another door. And as they approach this door they can hear the Crystal Shards they carry with them begin to hum and vibrate more and more loudly.

As soon as the door is opened the crystal shards will fly up and out of whatever contains them and spiral towards the center of the room. As they approach the PCs can see the smaller shards that were scattered upon the ground rise up to meet the larger shards to make the Crystal whole. When they meet in the center there is a strong burst of golden light. Once the PCs’ eyes adjust to the room they will see a glowing white crystal floating above the ground. Its light pulsates brighter with each syllable as the PCs hear its voice speak, “You cannot understand what has been created! I am power unleashed!”

As soon as it finishes speaking the light goes out and the PCs are lifted up by an unseen force that begins spinning them uncontrollably. There is no chance to resist this and it is extremely disorienting. The spinning lasts for 30 seconds and the PCs will have to make a stamina roll (or whatever is appropriate for you game). This roll will determine the severity of the minuses they experience from the dizziness. A very low could result in them being effectively stunned as they begin to dry heave for the first few moments. A very high roll could result in no minuses at all, though most PCs should experience minor combat minuses. These minuses become more and more severe with as the PCs progress through each scene.

When the spinning stops and the PCs gain their bearings they would find a familiar room. The crystal is using its remaining power to try and protect the Broken Halls. Its power has been weakened as the PCs have defeated its creations, but when it was reformed it gained a small burst of energy. With this energy it is randomly recreating less powerful versions of the encounters the PCs have already seen. As soon as one is defeated the PCs are caught in another disorienting spiral for 30 seconds before being dropped back to the ground in another all-too-familiar room. The PCs would notice that the encounters seem less powerful than the first time they were encountered, but the minuses they are suffering from the dizziness would more than make up for this difference. They would also notice that after each session of spinning the enemies and encounters before them seem weaker and weaker.

Once per scene (by scene I am referring to each recreation of a past encounter that happens between sessions of spinning), one of the PCs will hear shouts of encouragement coming from Themis and Atenhtet. These shouts will completely remove any combat minuses caused by dizziness for the scene. Once the PCs clear 4 scenes they will be lifted into the air for a moment, but they do not begin to spin. The Crystal has realized that its defeat is certain and instead of continuing to try and stop the PCs it chooses to remove them from the Broken Halls. The PCs would feel themselves violently pulled towards the Crystal. As they fly towards it sends out a blinding light. Next is only blackness with deep swirls of purple. This darkness and swirling purple energy continues for a short time before they notice a distant point of light. They can see the rest of the PCs around them as they seem to get closer the light. It is unclear whether they are moving towards the light or it is moving towards them. Within seconds they would see that what they are approaching appears to be a sphere of blue light and as they enter the sphere they find themselves scattered along the ground. Where they end up is completely up to the GM. They could end up exactly where they entered. They might find themselves on the other side of the world, or even on a different world. They may find themselves 10 years into their own future, or 100 years into their own past. I leave this completely at your discretion. Wherever they end up, it may be difficult to be absolutely certain that they ever left the Broken Halls.

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This Campaign created by Rachel McCracken, written by Jason McCracken and Rachel McCracken with concept support and editing from Jacob Woods, Rachel McCracken and Jason McCracken.