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One-Shot: The Shriveled WomanClick to magnify
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One-Shot: The Shriveled Woman

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The Curious Case
of the Drowned Man
& the Shriveled Woman

About This Adventure

In this urban adventure, a party of three to five 3rd-level characters must investigate after jailors find two prisoners mysteriously dead in their shared cell — one of them drowned and the other shriveled to a husk — with no obvious culprit.

The priests in a temple to Tyr, unequipped to investigate themselves, they turn to passing adventurers to solve the mystery. As a result, there is no widespread call to adventure. Instead, the player characters are likely in the right place at the right time.

If you’re not a DM, look no further!

One-Shot Adventure

This adventure is meant as a one-shot adventure. It’s great to introduce new players to the game, or you could use it as side-quest when your party stops in a major city.

Supernatural Mystery

This adventure focuses on a supernatural murder mystery. Someone or something killed a man and a woman who shared a cell in a jailhouse. As the title of this adventure suggests, their deaths are mysterious: The man died by drowning and the woman apparently shriveled up to a husk.

Investigations across Town

To solve the mystery, the player characters must follow clues and interrogate potential suspects. The clues can lead in several different directions, bringing the characters into dank sewers, a rowdy tavern, a lavish estate, the home of a desperate woman, a peasant family’s home, and a blacksmith’s shop. Along the way, they might contend with monsters and the denizens of the city.

Solution Based in Lore

The solution to the adventure is firmly based in established D&D lore. It features a little-known monster detailed in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. In some ways, the adventure is a monster-hunting activity akin to game series like The Witcher or the TV series Superntural. Investigative aspects of the adventure also resemble Sherlock and Elementary, or police procedurals like CSI and Law & Order.

If you like this product, check out other adventures and supplements from Meadowbend Games.

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Reviews (10)
Discussions (10)
Customer avatar
Bartłomiej K July 25, 2023 11:01 am UTC
PURCHASER
The intrigue is great. This seems like really well structured investigation and I'm looking forward to running it. I started preparation by analyzing the case. I have a question about questioning Borrin.

[Spoiler question]

I have a question regarding Speak with Dead spell. Being aware of how D&D works, as a player I would start with asking Stenn, if the clerics from this temple tried to use Speak with Dead to find out more. If they didn't I would ask them to do so. While casting it on Evelyn would be great, since she is alive and the spell would fail (mysterious), I see nothing preventing clerics from casting it on Borrin. And doing that can bypass a lot of investigation with a simple "Who killed you?" and four more questions after that. Bypassing investigation with clever player idea may be fine, but I would start to wonder why clerics haven't thought of that.

While I have some ideas how to alter the scenario to prevent Speak with Dead, I wonder how should...See more
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Customer avatar
Nick K July 30, 2023 1:45 am UTC
CREATOR
These are great questions. I think an easy solution is to have the players remember that only a small number of priests are clerics. It's possible that the temple doesn't have a dedicated cleric, or at least not one powerful enough to cast 3rd-level spells (such as Speak with Dead).
Customer avatar
Daniel F January 18, 2021 10:36 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Looks like my party will be 4th (possibly 5th) before they reach somewhere I could set this. Can the challenge be upped easily? I like the sound of it - it is just the kind of thing my players would like and is different from what they have done so far.
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Customer avatar
Nick K January 19, 2021 2:18 pm UTC
CREATOR
Yes, probably. Just give the Big Bad some more hit points and damage output, and I think you'd be good. Try researching a bit for some guidance on buffing monsters.
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Customer avatar
Daniel F January 31, 2021 11:19 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks...i will give it a go!
Reply
Customer avatar
Gregory G July 27, 2021 9:58 am UTC
Hi Nick - I really like what I've seen of your work, and would like to invite you to collaborate with us on something pretty amazing!

Please get in touch!

Eric A. Smith
ourmaninboston@hotmail.com
Customer avatar
Erik A November 30, 2020 10:51 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This one-shot was actually the first thing I ever ran as a DM. I feel like it's not the best thing for DMs to start with, since it requires you to remember so many details about the case, and you have very few combat encounters to give you a break from the worldbuilding and RP.

A year later, I tried running it again with a different group and a bit more experience under my belt, and we really enjoyed it. The new party didn't piece together nearly as many clues as my first one, and ended up basically stumbling upon the final battle by accident, but the reveal when one of the characters recognized Evelyn's face was awesome.

Both times I decided to add an extra NPC: Dorothy, the head servant at Applegate Estate. She provides a different perspective on Evelyn and Posey, and hints that Posey is not actually the saint that she acts like around Claude. I wanted to better set up the reveal of Posey's true nature when they reach her shack.
Customer avatar
Joe H November 01, 2020 12:04 am UTC
PURCHASER
I'm gonna get this anyway, but what advice would you give for adapting this one-shot for a party of one?
Customer avatar
James R September 27, 2020 5:47 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Have not yet run this but plan to soon for some new players, it looks great. Just reading through and found a few typos:

"Questioning Vincent" section:
"If pressed, Vincent might reveal that he has absolutely no idea why Borrin attacked Georgina the way she did". Seems like "she" should be "he".

Possible typo in “Georgina’s Smithy” section, “Georgina’s smithy is a small establishment in [the same] neighborhood of the Temple of Tyr and the Howling Dog”. Added a phrase.

Typo in “Tracking the Tracker”, “…it does not fight; it tries to get to Evelyn as quickly as possible”. Shouldn’t “Evelyn” be “Posey”?

On another note, I find Vincent confusing. In the "Scene of the Crime" section, you state that he's relieved to not have to work on this but later on, you also state he's annoyed with Stenn for going to get adventurers to help.

I can understand that Vincent is able...See more
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Customer avatar
Nick K September 29, 2020 2:10 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for pointing out the typos! You're totally right on all of them -- I'll get a revised version uploaded shortly.

As for Vincent, your assessment is correct. He's hypocritical. He knows he doesn't have the abilities to solve the case on his own, so he's simultaneously relieved and annoyed that Stenn sought the help of outsiders. It's a blow to his pride, but he might know deep down that his shoddy investigative work is a disservice or injustice to those involved. I hope that helps.
Customer avatar
John S May 19, 2020 12:38 am UTC
PURCHASER
The description says that the solution is based in Lore. Does that mean that players need to already have any background knowledge of D&D monsters or anything to be able to solve it? Will a group of totally new players be able to complete the mystery?
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Customer avatar
Nick K May 19, 2020 11:38 pm UTC
CREATOR
No, all it means is I didn't make up the monster or its properties. It's a monster designed by Wizards of the Coast and already a part of the in-game world. Neither you nor your players need pre-existing knowledge to play or to solve the mystery.
Customer avatar
Meghan D March 26, 2020 2:38 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Just wondering approx. how many hours to set aside for this one shot.
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Customer avatar
Nick K March 27, 2020 11:44 pm UTC
CREATOR
Three hours should be plenty! Four hours, max.
Customer avatar
Matt T October 15, 2019 1:14 am UTC
Does this come with any pregenerated characters?
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Customer avatar
Nick K October 15, 2019 2:35 am UTC
CREATOR
No, it does not. Would that be a helpful addition to this adventure?
Reply
Customer avatar
Elizabeth D May 23, 2020 3:44 am UTC
I would personally love some pregens!
Reply
Customer avatar
Nick K May 24, 2020 3:28 pm UTC
CREATOR
I suggest using the official pre-generated characters here: https://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/trpg-resources/trpg-resources. If those don't work to your liking, please let me know what I can do to make better pre-generated characters for this adventure!
Customer avatar
J-S S September 17, 2018 2:22 am UTC
PURCHASER
5 Star for sure! Best adventure I've found off the guild yet: It ran quick and simple, and even handles a split party with grace. Thank you so much for your amazing contribution to the community!
Reply
Customer avatar
Nick K September 19, 2018 2:16 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thank you so much for the kind words! :)
Customer avatar
Tarjei L August 01, 2018 10:35 pm UTC
PURCHASER
in the Murder Weapon portion it says that the weapon is located at Evelyns house, given to her by Borrin after the deed was done. shouldnt it be at Poseys?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nick K August 02, 2018 1:58 am UTC
CREATOR
Yes, thank you for catching that typo! It has been updated.
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Meadowbend Games
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16
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File Last Updated:
September 15, 2022
This title was added to our catalog on July 15, 2018.
Publisher
Dungeon Masters Guild Dungeon Masters Guild
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