- 5e

Vinburgh

Inspired by Van Helsing (2004), particularly when Dracula's brides -- Verona, Marishka, and Aleera -- attack the village.

So the plot hook I have for you guys won't be too elaborate for the one shot but the basic premise is that you're all adventurers with whatever background you'd like and you've settled into Vinburgh, a small mountain town, for some much needed rest before going on another adventure a few weeks down the road. It's late fall or early winter, nothing too out of the ordinary is going on to an outside eye.

The town's noble/leader, Lord Rutclair, hasn't been heard from for a couple weeks but no one has exactly gone out to look for him -- he isn't well received by the town and they're frankly glad he hasn't made a visit in a while, as most of his visits effectively result in unreasonable taxes/extortion/however you'd like to word it.

Setting - What is Vinburgh and who is Lord Rutclair

Vinburgh is a small mountain town that serves a near-by castle owned by the Rutclair family (the Rutclair family color is purple). Yellow crests with an icon a rising sun are throughout Vinburgh.

The air is crisp, it's cloudy/dreary day with snow falling and slowly accumulating in the shadows of the town (just a dusting of snow). Maybe on a slightly warmer day, drizzling rain would quickly melt/wash away the remaining snow.

Lord Rutclair

Edmund Rutclair went into a deep depression and into seclusion after his wife's death a few months ago. He hasn't been heard from in a few weeks.

Edmund and Rosalind appear to be in their late 30s or early 40s and have four daughters together (all in their mid-to-late teens) -- Cassandra, Mackayla, Harper, and Sophia

Lord Rutclair

Lady Rutclair

Lady Rutclair

Rosalind (Chamberlain) Rutclair passed away from a mysterious illness a few months back. Even though the Rutclair Estate has their own doctors and clerics, so the town of Vinburgh doesn't know much about the nature of the illness outside of the fact she died -- and this caused Edmund to become a recluse.

The Attack on Vinburgh

Vampire Spawns (1 for every party member) will join in on the attack on the town at some points. The party can find weapons effective against them (+1 weapons) on dead townspeople that fought back against the attack. Feel free to adjust the hit points of the spawns (or lower the regeneration rate) or other adds to account for previous encounters.

Random attackers in town:

Daughters

All four of the daughters should have noticeable "off-red" eyeliner. An investigation check (DC 15) will let the players know the off-red color is a mixture of red and yellow (but not to the degree of the ratio).

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/17044-vampire-spawn

Castle Rutclair

The Bridge

A large stone creature rests on the bridge with it's arms wrapped around a cauldron. An inscription on the cauldron reads "Eternity." Purple banners hang from the castle and have a Rising Sun crest.

Gargoyle

Mixture Puzzle

A successful History check (DC 15) can hint that a particular shade of red is associated with the word Eternity -- and in some cultures, the same color is used to signify a married woman.

The party will find three colors of powder -- red, yellow, and blue. The party will need to mix 2 parts red with 1 part yellow with water (or any other liquid, really) in the bowl to complete the puzzle. If the party does not successfully solve the puzzle after a couple of attempts, the gargoyle will animate and a combat encounter will ensue:

Lord Rutclair - Monster

Lord Rutclair stands before you but he's much bigger than you would have thought but it's also clear something is wrong -- his skin appears heavily scarred, almost as if his skin had melted and was reapplied. He's now heavily disfigured and you see no traces of hair left anywhere on his body.

Lord Rutclair

CR 10

Reskined Aboleth where Lord Rutclair's arms will extend out to hit the players, give him 40 feet of land speed... any effects that require underwater to work work as normal.

See: Nemesis or Tyrant from Resident Evil

Throne Room

Gem Puzzle

Gemstones are scattered throughout the room. After taking some time, the party will find the following gems: Nephrite (Jade), Amethyst, Ruby, Pearl, Sapphire, Turquoise, Emerald, Quartz, Opal, and Citrine.

Four sockets are on the door, the following gems need to be placed in the sockets in order:

If you'd like to add Heliodor and either Malachite or Moonstone, players could place any variation of Heliodor, Malachine, Sapphire, and Citrine in the door as an answer, as this would be first letter of each of Edmund and Rosalind's daughters.

Lady Rutclair - Monster

Lady Rutclair's hair (and nearly all of her attire) is now black, outside of her unusually pale skin, the only hint of color is heavy vermilion eyeliner.

Vampire (CR 13) might be too steep - https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/17043-vampire

Lady Rutclair

Vampire CR? https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?624169-Should-a-Vampire-be-a-CR-13-Creature

https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/d9mfda/i_created_a_vampire_lord_and_need_help_to/