A wizard's experiment shrinks the party to one inch tall. The antidote is on a shelf in the kitchen. Between you and it: a canyon-sized sink, a jungle of houseplants, a territorial cat the size of a dragon, and a mouse who thinks she's the dungeon boss. Everything normal becomes deadly at this scale.
Story Arcs
The Big Small Problem
The party visited a wizard to pick up a commissioned item. He sneezed while holding an experimental shrinking potion. Now they're one inch tall, standing on his kitchen table, and the wizard has left for errands — he'll be back in three hours. The antidote is a blue potion on a high shelf across the kitchen. Between the table and the shelf lies an impossible journey through a world where breadcrumbs are boulders, a dripping faucet is a waterfall, and the house cat is an apex predator.
Session Outlines
These outlines are for planning reference only. Actual sessions are not created by the template.
Tiny Adventurers
ORIENTATION (20 min): Players realize their situation. Everything on the kitchen table is enormous. A salt shaker is a pillar. A butter knife is a greatsword they can barely lift. Establish the goal: the blue potion is visible on a shelf across the kitchen, roughly 20 feet up and 15 feet away — which at their scale is equivalent to half a mile and a 300-story building. Let players survey the kitchen and plan a route. Key landmarks: the table edge (a cliff), the counter (a plateau), the sink (a canyon with a waterfall), the windowsill herb garden (a jungle), the floor (open plains patrolled by Whiskers the cat), and the shelf (the final ascent). DESCENT & CROSSING (40 min): Getting off the table — rope made from thread, climbing down a dish towel, riding a rolling orange. Crossing the counter requires navigating around a cutting board canyon, through spilled flour (quicksand), and past a mousetrap the size of a building. The sink is full of water with a slow drip creating tsunami-like waves. A sponge serves as a raft. The herb garden windowsill is a dense jungle of basil and thyme — with aphids the size of dogs. WHISKERS (30 min): The cat has noticed them. Whiskers is not evil but is curious and playful in the way cats are — batting, pouncing, and chasing. She is essentially a dragon encounter at this scale. Players can distract her (laser pointer on the counter, a piece of string), hide (behind objects), or find creative solutions (riding her to the shelf). This should be tense and fun, not lethal. THE ASCENT (30 min): Climbing the shelf. The books provide ledges, a dangling charging cable is a rope, and a spider web between shelves is both a hazard and a shortcut. The final obstacle: a mouse named Duchess has built a nest on the shelf next to the antidote and considers the blue potion part of her hoard. She's the "boss fight" — a normal mouse who is, at this scale, the size of a bear. She can be fought, bribed (with crumbs), or negotiated with if anyone speaks to animals. The antidote restores them just as the wizard returns.
NPCs
Wizard Fumblethorp
Gnome · Absent-Minded Wizard
The wizard who accidentally shrunk the party. He sneezed while holding the experimental potion and doesn't even realize what happened — he assumed the party left when he went to get a handkerchief. He's out running errands and will return in three hours. His kitchen is a mess of alchemical ingredients, dirty dishes, and half-finished experiments. Not malicious, just spectacularly careless.
Whiskers
Cat · House Cat / Apex Predator
Fumblethorp's orange tabby cat. At normal size she's lazy and affectionate. At the party's scale she's a dragon-sized predator with lightning reflexes and an insatiable curiosity about the tiny moving things on the counter. She doesn't want to eat the party — she wants to play with them, which at this size difference is equally dangerous. She can be distracted by dangling things, laser-pointer-like light reflections, or treats from the counter.
Duchess
Mouse · Shelf Nest Guardian
A plump brown mouse who has built a comfortable nest on the high shelf between a stack of spellbooks and the blue antidote potion. She considers everything in a one-foot radius to be her territory, including the potion. At the party's scale, she's bear-sized, territorial, and surprisingly fierce. However, she's also reasonable — if the party brings her a crumb of cheese from the counter, she'll let them pass. She has three babies in the nest and is protective above all else.
Locations
The Kitchen Table
Starting location. At one inch tall, the table is a vast wooden plain. Salt and pepper shakers are pillars, a napkin is a tent, and the edge is a sheer cliff with a four-story drop to the counter below. A butter knife can be used as a bridge to a nearby cutting board. Breadcrumbs are boulders. A glass of water is a crystal tower filled with enough liquid to drown in.
The Counter Crossing
A treacherous landscape of kitchen implements, spilled ingredients, and forgotten crumbs. Landmarks include Flour Valley (a spill that acts like quicksand), the Mousetrap (a spring-loaded death machine the size of a building), and the Knife Block Forest (a grove of handle-shaped trees). The counter connects the table to the sink and windowsill.
The Sink Canyon
A stainless steel chasm half-filled with water. A slow-dripping faucet creates periodic waves that slam against the walls. A sponge floating in the water serves as a raft. The drain is a whirlpool that activates unpredictably. Crossing the sink is the fastest route from the counter to the far shelf, but the most dangerous.
The Herb Garden Jungle
Potted herbs on the windowsill form a miniature jungle. Basil leaves are the size of trees, thyme branches create a tangled undergrowth, and aphids the size of dogs crawl along the stems. The soil is soft and loamy — easy to sink into. A ladybug passes through occasionally, big enough to ride.
The High Shelf
The final destination. A bookshelf against the far wall holds the blue antidote potion on the third shelf up. Books provide ledges for climbing, a phone charging cable dangles like a rope, and spider webs stretch between objects. Duchess the mouse guards her nest at the top. The blue potion glows faintly — tantalizingly close after a long journey.
Quests
Reach the Antidote
The blue potion on the high shelf is the only way to return to normal size. Navigate from the kitchen table across the counter, past the sink, through the herb garden, and up the bookshelf to reach it. At one inch tall, this is a journey of epic proportions through a world of everyday hazards turned deadly.
Survive Whiskers
The house cat has noticed the tiny adventurers. She is curious, playful, and catastrophically dangerous at this scale. Find a way to distract, evade, or befriend her — or accept your fate as a cat toy.
Negotiate with Duchess
A territorial mouse guards the shelf where the antidote sits. She considers it part of her nest and will fight to defend it. Bringing her food from the counter (cheese from the mousetrap) or finding another way to earn her trust may be easier than fighting a bear-sized rodent.
Encounters
The Mousetrap
A classic spring mousetrap loaded with cheese sits on the counter. At the party's scale, it's a kill-zone the size of a building. The cheese is tempting bait (and could be used to bribe Duchess later). Disarming it requires a DC 15 Thieves' Tools check or creative use of weight and leverage.
Whiskers Pounces
The house cat spots the tiny adventurers and investigates with playful malice. She bats at them with paws the size of boulders, pounces from above, and chases anything that runs. This is a chase/evasion encounter — fighting Whiskers is like fighting a dragon with no weapons. Creativity is survival.
Aphid Swarm
In the herb garden, a cluster of aphids mistakes the party for rival insects and swarms them. Individually weak but numerous. At this scale, their mandibles are dangerous and their sticky secretions can trap a tiny adventurer in place.
Duchess Defends Her Nest
The mouse Duchess rears up on hind legs and bares her teeth when the party approaches the shelf. She's protecting her babies and the "treasure" (the antidote potion). A bear-sized rodent with sharp teeth and surprising speed. She can be fought, bribed with cheese, or calmed with Animal Handling or Speak with Animals.
Use This Template
Create a new campaign pre-populated with all the arcs, NPCs, locations, quests, encounters, and factions from this template.