A blizzard forces the party into a remote tavern where every patron is a retired adventurer with a secret. When the doors freeze shut and something starts hunting guests one by one, the party must figure out who — or what — among these legendary heroes has turned killer before they're all that's left.
Story Arcs
Snowbound
A supernatural blizzard traps the party in The Last Tavern, a remote inn at the edge of civilization. The other guests are all retired adventurers — ex-heroes with impressive pasts and heavy secrets. When guests start disappearing one by one, the party must investigate while trapped in close quarters with people who could each be the most dangerous person in the room. The truth: a bodak has followed one of the guests here, drawn by a decades-old sin, and is using the blizzard to pick them off.
Session Outlines
These outlines are for planning reference only. Actual sessions are not created by the template.
The Last Tavern
ACT 1 (40 min): The party arrives at The Last Tavern seeking shelter from an unnatural blizzard. Inside, five retired adventurers are already settled in. The tavern keeper, Old Marta, serves hot stew and strong ale. Let the party interact with each NPC — they're colorful, experienced, and each has stories and secrets. Atmosphere is cozy but tense. The blizzard howls outside. Then the doors freeze shut — not from cold, but from magic. Something is out there, and it wants in. The first disappearance: a guest excuses themselves to use the privy and doesn't return. Their room is empty. The window is frozen shut from the outside. ACT 2 (50 min): Investigation and paranoia. Another guest vanishes — found frozen solid in the cellar with an expression of pure terror (bodak's Death Gaze). The remaining NPCs react according to their personalities: the paladin wants to organize a watch, the rogue suspects everyone, the wizard starts warding doors. The party must investigate the deaths (Necrotic damage, expression of horror, no physical wounds), search the tavern for clues, and figure out who the bodak is targeting. Key clue: the bodak was once a person one of the guests wronged decades ago — a guide they abandoned in a dungeon to save themselves. The guilt has literally followed them. ACT 3 (40 min): The bodak attacks directly once enough souls have been consumed. It phases through the tavern walls, targeting the guilty guest. The party must fight it in the cramped tavern — tables and chairs flying, a fireplace as improvised weapon, the retired adventurers joining the fight with rusty skills. Killing the bodak breaks the blizzard. The guilty guest must decide whether to confess their sin to the group. Epilogue: dawn breaks, the road clears, and the surviving guests share a quiet breakfast — changed by the night.
NPCs
Old Marta
Dwarf · Tavern Keeper
Weathered, practical, and unflappable. Marta has run The Last Tavern for forty years and has seen every kind of traveler. She keeps a loaded crossbow behind the bar and knows every creak and draft in the building. She is not an adventurer but is a survivor. She provides practical help — blankets, barricade materials, knowledge of the building's layout. She brews the strongest tea in the north.
Ser Orwen Brightshield
Human · Retired Paladin
Once a legendary champion of Tyr, now a sixty-year-old man with bad knees and a drinking problem. He's still formidable in a fight but his reflexes aren't what they were. He responds to the crisis by trying to take command and organize defenses. His secret: he lost his faith years ago after a mission went wrong, and his paladin abilities work intermittently at best. He is NOT the guilty party but his guilt about his lost faith makes him act suspicious.
Whisper Nix
Halfling · Retired Rogue
A former thief and spy who "retired" after one last job. She's paranoid by nature, which serves her well tonight. She suspects everyone and trusts no one, including the party. She has a hidden dagger, a set of lockpicks, and the sharpest eyes in the room. Her secret: she stole from a temple of Kelemvor, which is why she's nervous around undead themes — but she's not the bodak's target.
Magister Thorne
Elf · Retired Battle Mage
An elderly elf wizard who has outlived three adventuring parties. He's quiet, bookish, and still carries a spellbook out of habit. He can identify the bodak if given enough clues about the deaths (Necrotic damage, death gaze). His secret: he knows who the guilty party is because he was on that fateful expedition decades ago — but he stayed silent about the abandoned guide because speaking up would have implicated himself.
Bronagh Ironheart
Half-Orc · Retired Barbarian
A boisterous, warm-hearted former barbarian who retired to become a goat farmer. She's the most likeable person in the room — quick to laugh, first to volunteer for danger, and fiercely protective of the other guests. Her secret: she is the guilty party. Thirty years ago, she and her party left a guide named Eamon to die in a collapsing dungeon to save themselves. She's carried the guilt ever since. The bodak is Eamon's transformed remains, drawn to her after decades of wandering.
Father Aldric Dune
Human · Retired Cleric
A former priest of Ilmater who served as a battlefield medic during the Troll Wars. Gentle, soft-spoken, and the first to tend to the frightened. He senses the undead presence before anyone else and can Turn Undead — but his abilities are weakened by age and doubt. His secret: he saw Eamon's face in a dream last week, which is why he's at this tavern — he was drawn here by the same force that drew the bodak.
Locations
The Last Tavern
A sturdy stone and timber inn at the end of a mountain road, built to withstand the worst northern winters. The common room has a massive stone fireplace, heavy oak tables, and animal pelts on the walls. Upstairs: six guest rooms along a narrow hallway. Downstairs: a cellar stocked with ale barrels and preserved food. The building is solid but old — there are drafts, blind corners, and a cellar that connects to an abandoned root cellar. When the blizzard seals the doors, the firelight becomes the only warmth in the world.
The Common Room
The heart of the tavern. A roaring fireplace dominates one wall. Heavy tables and chairs can serve as barricades or improvised weapons. The bar has a loaded crossbow beneath it and enough ale to last a week. Windows are shuttered against the blizzard — frost creeps through the gaps. This is where the guests gather and where the final confrontation will likely occur.
The Guest Rooms
Six small rooms along an upstairs hallway. Each has a bed, a washstand, and a window frozen shut. The hallway is narrow — two people can barely pass. Floorboards creak with every step, making stealth difficult. Guests who disappear are last seen heading upstairs. The bodak phases through exterior walls to enter rooms from outside.
The Cellar
A cold stone cellar beneath the tavern, stacked with ale barrels and hanging dried meats. A frozen body is found here — the first clear evidence of the bodak's presence. A bricked-up passage leads to an old root cellar that connects to the outside. The bricks are old and could be broken through — but that would let the blizzard (and whatever lurks in it) inside.
Quests
Identify the Killer
Guests are disappearing or turning up dead with no wounds and expressions of absolute terror. The deaths point to an undead creature — but how is it getting in, and why is it targeting this tavern? Investigate the deaths, interrogate the guests, and piece together the connection before everyone is dead.
Survive the Night
The blizzard is supernatural and the doors are sealed by magic. No one leaves until dawn — or until the bodak is destroyed. Organize defenses, protect the surviving guests, and prepare for a fight in close quarters against an undead horror that can kill with a look.
Uncover the Sin
The bodak was drawn here by someone's guilt. One of the retired adventurers did something terrible decades ago — abandoned someone to die. Finding out who and why is the key to understanding the bodak's behavior and potentially ending the haunting without combat.
Encounters
The Bodak Strikes
The bodak phases through the tavern wall during the final act, bringing a wave of supernatural cold. Its Death Gaze forces Constitution saves — failure means dropping to 0 HP as the victim sees their own death reflected in the bodak's hollow eyes. It targets Bronagh above all others but will attack anyone in its path. The cramped tavern makes the fight chaotic — tables overturning, the fire nearly going out, the retired adventurers fighting with whatever they can grab.
Something at the Window
Before the bodak attacks directly, it torments the guests. Frost patterns form faces on windows. A knocking comes from outside — always from the wall nearest the guilty party. A DC 15 Perception check reveals a dark figure standing motionless in the blizzard, just at the edge of visibility. This is atmosphere, not combat — building dread before the final confrontation.
Factions
The Retired Adventurers
Neutral Good
Five former heroes with decades of experience, rusty skills, and heavy secrets. They are individually formidable but aged and out of practice. Together they can be powerful allies in the final fight — if the party can keep them alive and united despite the paranoia of being hunted.
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