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Barrow of Sorn

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The final resting place of Sorn is a crumbling ruin; a barrow mound of piled stone and dirt. A forgotten tomb from a previous age. Locals are wary of it, their dreams haunted by a stone coffin and a skeletal king.

Barrow of Sorn is a 20 room dungeon for 3-6 characters of levels one and two. It was created for Crown, an old school fantasy roleplaying game, but can be adapted to any similar OSR type game with relative ease. It assumes that you are using gold for XP; the treasure is large and it contains a dozen magic items (from potions and scrolls to a magic sword) which the characters may acquire. The dungeon is not perfectly balanced and there are portions of it which may be deadly to a low-level party or that can be easily overcome with quick thinking.

It is intended to be run as an introductory adventure, but could just as easily be dropped into any area of your own setting where a lonely barrow could go unmolested for a few centuries. 

Update 1.1 Added the missing treasure from Room 14: Wizard Vault

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Reviews (1)
Discussions (3)
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Christopher K February 06, 2023 2:08 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hello Mason,

I started the Barrow of Sorn last week with some school mates and everyone has had a great time exploring the first three rooms.

I have a question about the puzzle with the three portcullises: Is there a way through clever ordering of pulling the levers alone that will allow the party to travel together past them? (I haven't been able to sort it out, but maybe there is a way?)

Or does the module assume that the PCs will either leave some folks behind on the levers? Or perhaps assumes that magic will be what allows them to move forward?

I know this is all spoilerific territory. But everyone is having a great time and this is the first time in a module I feel like I can't sort out on my own the possible paths for forward motion for the PCs and I wanted to check with you.

Thanks!
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Customer avatar
Mason W February 12, 2023 5:19 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hey Christopher!

I'm glad to hear that you all are enjoying it. As written there isn't a clever way of just pulling levers to get through together - but there is nothing stopping them from propping up each portcullis after it has been pulled up. In my playtesting I had one group simply prop up each portcullis and then slip past them, pull the next lever, and continue on that way together. I had another group who pooled together all of their rope to tie two lengths to the next two levers and after passing through each portcullis they would pull the next lever that way. Because it is an old school game, sometimes my players would have hirelings that they could use to pull the levers and just leave behind in the front rooms. It is definitely reasonable to encode some clever order of lever pulling that will simply allow the players to get through the pathway - and I want to encourage you to modify the adventure to best fit your group! There is a magic item in the dungeon that will allow characters to...See more
Customer avatar
Roberto B March 29, 2021 9:38 am UTC
PURCHASER
Page 12: "The treasure (...) contains a dozen magic items", but the real number is 13, what's happened to the skull-topped scepter in Room 14?

Still rated it Five Stars.
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Customer avatar
Mason W March 30, 2021 1:22 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hey Roberto,
Thanks so much for pointing this out! Somewhere between my original notes, rough draft, and final copy this treasure got lost. I will go back and fix it so that it is included. For now here is the scepter:

Scepter of the Herald
*Constellations coil like serpents around the haft of this scepter, glowing faintly blue. An obsidian skull glares from atop it*
This is a cursed wand with 1d6+1 charges of the spell Return of the Haunted. A mage or rogue with Trickster's Spell can immediately tell that the wand is malevolent.

Return of the Haunted: Cast this spell onto a corpse. It rises as a skeleton or zombie (as appropriate to the corpse in question) and will seek out living creatures to attack (except the caster) until it is destroyed or the next New Moon. Casting time 1 minute. Blood Price: 2. Duration: Until Destroyed or the next New Moon.

The wand isn't sentient per se, but it demands to be used. Anytime a character is near a corpse they hear...See more
Customer avatar
Wes B March 21, 2021 8:24 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Are there any guidelines for converting the Crown stat blocks to B/X? I saw that they're in the Crown rules, but I'm just looking to use this with Old-School Essentials.
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Customer avatar
Mason W March 21, 2021 11:41 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Hey Wes, here is a quick-and-dirty method for conversion:
The HD for the monsters can stay the same. To get from Crown AC to Ascending AC just add 10. If you are using THAC0 there is a chart for it on page 125 of the OSE Classic Fantasy Rules Tome. Use the saving throws from the Monster Saving Throws chart on page 124 of the OSE Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (it shows what saving throws monsters of specific HD should have). The damage each monster deals should stay the same; you may want to switch any "d3" value for a "d4" to make it easier. The movement given in the adventure is equal to the encounter movement for OSE (one third of the base movement rate). The XP for each monster is based on their HD and is listed in a chart on page 228. If you aren't using the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome the section that these charts are in is labeled "Combat Tables." Hope this helps!
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File Last Updated:
March 29, 2021
This title was added to our catalog on January 29, 2021.