Maze of the Screaming Heads

Ninety-seven years ago the Cult of Malphas created the greatest library of Arcane Lore ever collected : the Maze of Yes'od-caj. They invited Sages and Luminaries from all over to witness its consecration.

When the guests arrived, the cultists set upon them, beheading every sage and trapping their minds inside their undead skulls to serve as the source of the library's lore.

One sage avoided the slaughter and took revenge, poisoning the Cult with a killing spell, sealing the library to all but himself.

Now, a century later, the doors to Yes'od-caj are open, and something stalks the streets, collecting the heads of the wise and holy...

And there is Forbidden Lore and lost treasure ripe for the taking...

Maze of the Screaming Heads is an adventure module for an OSR-compatible adventure game and structured for 3-5 PCs of levels 5-7. It was made using the 1991 Cyclopedia for one of the original rulesets that inspired the OSR. It is ideal for play in Labyrinth Lord, Old-School Essentials, or Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

This adventure takes place in a Maze-like crypt full of insane undead heads whose babble provides constant distraction, leaving Player Characters vulnerable to surprise by monsters that use hit-and-run tactics to whittle them down.

To escape the dungeon once trapped inside the PCs must either make an unholy alliance with an undead cultist, find the needed clues for the puzzle by finding the few sane heads, slay a deadly monster, or sell their souls to a Demon Prince. This adventure offers multiple ways out for different play styles. Characters can talk, think, or fight their way out as they choose.

The Maze of the Screaming Heads makes heavy use of environmental hazards.

The module contains a little over 45,000 gp worth of treasure. Much of this comes in the form of valuable lore and delicate crumbling books. It may be difficult for PCs to even recognize some of the treasures of the dungeon as such. In all likelihood, they will find only a fraction of this wealth.

The PCs may also earn up to 14,720 xp from monsters across eight encounters.

All told, this is not quite enough potential experience for 6th level Thieves or Clerics to gain a level, and less than half what a Magic-User might need, even if the PCs are painstaking in looting the dungeon.

This adventure module is intended as satire, any resemblance to a social network or particular online community may be intentional… but I'm not telling which ones for sure.