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The Mad Manor of Astabar

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Suggested Price $5.95

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UPDATED AUGUST 2022

For twenty years, Astabar’s Manor sat abandoned, gaining notoriety as a cursed place of magic and danger. The good folk of Havehollow avoids it at all costs but at the behest of a mysterious bard, the characters venture forth to explore the home of the once great wizard.

BTW, you can find an epic version of the song featured in this adventure at the link below:

THE BALLAD OF ASTABAR

You may have encountered this adventure before. This is an updated version with a new design and editing. If you already purchased this title on DriveThruRPG (where it is no longer available), drop me an email at oneshotrpg.gm@gmail.com, and I'll send you a complimentary copy. 

Interested in something other than D&D. Check out our One-Shot RPG titles. Below is a complete list of titles available today:

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AGE OF WITCHES

Interested in watching Live Streams of One-Shot RPG games. Check out TPK Roleplay on YouTube and search for GM Phzoul.

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If you have any questions and would like to use the One-Shot RPG system for your own publications, drop me an email at OneShotRPG.GM@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support!

David / Phzoul

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Reviews (5)
Discussions (10)
Customer avatar
John L August 05, 2022 2:50 am UTC
PURCHASER
In your updated version (just released), in the copyright paragraph you have "...this work is copyright 2021 by [your legal name or company name] and published...", I'm guessing you missed updating that to reflect your name or company name. Otherwise, looks great. I'm thinking about running this one for my son. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Customer avatar
David D August 06, 2022 1:16 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks for pointing that out John! I hope you enjoy the adventure.
Customer avatar
David S December 03, 2021 10:12 pm UTC
Hello.
I played this adventure some years ago, and I'm compiling a book for the 20-level campaign I used it in. I'd like your permission to include it there. The book will probably be posted in DM's Guild, with
proceedings being gifted to charity.
Feel free to contact me at gamecloner@gmail.com
Thank you,
David
Customer avatar
Elisabeth F April 03, 2021 2:43 am UTC
PURCHASER
I'm going to be running this for some friends -- looks great! I have some questions, though:

- this is meant to be level 1-3. Do you suggest doing milestone level ups per floor, or should I be counting XP?

- I'm a little confused by the dire rats encounter. You say the rats attack when they turn to flesh, but I'm not sure what stats to use? There are definitely some homebrew options for dire rats out there, but I think something like the official "giant rat" might be the best bet, at CR 1/8 -- otherwise level 1 (probably) PCs are going to be overwhelmed by 12 of them. Any thoughts?

Also, I'm not clear on how the PCs get free. It says the spell effect ends if everyone turns to stone on the same round. But the next line says, "The characters will remain stone until another living thing enters the room." So if every player entered the room, and they all become stone at the same time, the "spell effect ends" -- but are they just stuck like that until...See more
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Customer avatar
David D August 16, 2022 2:16 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hi Elisabeth. Apologies for the very late response. I've been focused on my OSRPG titles and lost track of the 5E titles. The reference to levels 1-3 means the characters should be in that level range, so you'd keep track of XP (It's unlikely they would game a level unless they are maybe level 1 to start). The Dire Rate encounter is based on the Wand of Wonders Stone to Flesh/Flesh to Stone power. The idea is the power activates if anything living enters the room. When the dire rats entered they all failed their saves (because they are low level) and the power was deactivated. When the players enter the room, the power activates again and turns flesh to stone, but if you are already stone, it turns stone to flesh. The idea is the battle is chaotic because rats and PCs are constantly turning to stone, back to flesh, etc. If everyone ends up being stone - the effect deactivates, and they are stuck. If you want to simplify things (and eliminate a pile of rolls), have half the players turn to stone (no save) every...See more
Customer avatar
Jeff C September 25, 2018 8:52 pm UTC
The map for this and the map of the burgomasters house from curse of stradh are very similar. This module seems to have come out before that though. Thoughts?
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Customer avatar
David D September 10, 2020 9:24 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Hi Jeff. I wrote this adventure in 2014 as a part of a contest on EnWorld for D&D Next (i.e. 5E). They provided the map (which I redrew to post on DriveThru RPG) so it's quite possible it was used elsewhere. The contest is what got me interested in writing adventures.
Customer avatar
Dave L September 15, 2017 5:30 pm UTC
Running this quest as a solo adventure for my daughter (8) and she is digging it. She is a 4th level druid with a few hirelings along for the ride. Highlight so far: She cast Speak with Animals to talk to the butterflies in the jar. I made their voices very ghostlike and creepy - her character warned everyone NOT to touch the jar under any circumstances. The darkness in the pantry similarly freaked her out, but she's starting to put together the secret behind the skulls and will have to go back there...

I'll post again once we've finished. So far, it is great.
Customer avatar
Donna B May 24, 2017 5:02 pm UTC
PURCHASER
David! I'm in love with this quest. I found it on a reddit post, I think? And from the moment I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I'm kinda new to the D&D world but the way you explained everything for the person DMing (ME) made it so much easer to follow along. I have read a few other mini quests and none compare to yours. I'm buying all the rest, and I must say your our creativity is limitless!!! I can not wait to see what else you come up with.
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Customer avatar
David D September 10, 2020 9:30 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks for the kind words Donna. The mad manor of Astabar is one of my favorites. I've been working to update all of the old Mini-Quests and will be releasing some others in the coming months. I've been DMing for a long time but one of my core philosophies actually came from an episode of Castle (love Nathan Fillion). In the episode, a bunch of writers were playing poker and talking about ideas when one of them asked "Where's the twist?" It stuck with me and I try to incorporate twists whenever I can. I have some DM tips on my website www.one-shot-rpg.com and you can email questions to OneShotRPG.GM@gmail.com. All the best!
Customer avatar
Ian C January 05, 2017 3:21 am UTC
PURCHASER
I started running this tonight for my all-girls Lamentations of the Flame Princess group. They really seemed to enjoy it, and I'm enjoying running it for them! It still remains to be seen what will happen in the end, but I'm recording the adventure on my YouTube channel if you're interested in reviewing our interpretation of the adventure.
Customer avatar
Ian C January 05, 2017 3:18 am UTC
PURCHASER
Customer avatar
David D December 08, 2014 4:23 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks chuck. I'm glad you enjoyed the module. Congrats on pulling off the twist at the end. I like your approach of planting sixth sense style clues all along - bet it made the twist much more impactfull!
Customer avatar
Chuck N November 18, 2014 7:00 pm UTC
My gaming group of three 1st level characters (Paladin, Rogue, Sorcerer) enjoyed this adventure immensely. We used D&D Next rules. As DM I kind of favored them in some of the fights (Poltergeists mostly threw objects at the high AC paladin and tended to try to scare to two halflings (Advantage vs being Frightened). They took a little damage but short rested once and none of them ended up at 0 hit points, though the paladin was close once. I also had the NPC Bard buff them with her songs, even though she was a [SPOILER ALERT!!], but mostly she stood in the back and didn't do anything, and I gave the players a great many fairly subtle sixth-sense type of clues throughout the game, and they enjoyed the shock twist at the end. They figured she had a low intelligence and was fairly shy. I'm considering {Spoiler} that the wand has 1 more charge left and its use ends up bringing her back as a permanent NPC. The layout is good, the rooms are well thought out and the puzzles are great for new players. I like the theme...See more
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File Last Updated:
August 06, 2022
This title was added to our catalog on October 21, 2014.