One-Shot: Adventuring Academy
System: DnD 5.5 (2024 rules edition; DND-OGL)
Theme: School, training, newbies
Conflict: Training to be a hero!
Level: 1
Number of player(s): 3 to 6 players
Alignment: Any
Starting equipment: Standard kit according to the Player's Handbook.
Character options: Humans, Elves (High Elf, Wood Elf), Dwarf, Halfling, Gnome. Other species need DM approval. All classes and backgrounds in the Player's Handbook are allowed.
Attribute Scores: Standard array or Point Buy
Hit Points: Average fixed
Origin Feat: Take an Origin Feat from your background.
World background information: Kingdom of Iperborea, Land of Dragon Riders
The world in a nutshell
The Kingdom of Iperborea is a mighty and expansive
realm nestled in the fertile lands of the southern
highlands and rolling plains, where mild climates and
vast agricultural fields sustain the kingdom’s people.
Over time, Iperborea has transformed from a region of
fractured, warring kingdoms into a unified power—but
not without struggle. The kingdom is famous for having
the greatest knights in the known world, renowned for
their skill, honor, and valor on the battlefield.
Iperborea’s formidable military combines the discipline
of organized legions, the might of dragon-backed
warriors, and the power of elite wizard platoons. The
Iperborean Army and the chivalric orders—such as the
Protectors of All Frontiers and the Guardians of
Equilibrium—ensure that the kingdom is well-protected
and its order maintained by its knights, who fight to
defend the weak and uphold justice in the name of
Queen Serafine.
Our adventure is set in the capital city of Caelenia, a cultural melting pot with grand aqueducts and beautiful marble buildings.
Introduction
Welcome would be heroes in the fabled halls of the Adventuring Academy! You have assembled here but each and everyone of you has what it takes to be a hero. You may be a brave fighter, a tough barbarian, a sneaky rogue or a fabulous wizard, such as myself! I am headmaster and Archmage Pilonius Tesseract, at your service. In coming days you will receive instruction from our teachers some of the best in their class of hero.
Today, you take your first steps toward greatness! You will finish your final classes and then it will be time for the final test, the Exam of Heroes! The first step is to complete a traditional trial, a test of courage, wit, and teamwork. Tonight, you will spend the night in the Hall of Echoes, a place where the spirits of past heroes whisper their wisdom. Survive until dawn, and you can return here to take the final exam.
Organisations
The Adventuring Academy - Nestled in the heart of the capital of the Great Kingdom of Iperborea, Caelenia. The Adventuring Academy is a towering fortress of marble, enchanted steel, and floating arcane spires. Built atop the ruins of an ancient elven citadel, the Academy is both a school for aspiring heroes and a bastion against the darkness creeping at the edges of civilization.
Important NPCs
Headmaster Pilonius Tesseract - Pilonius is a charismatic showman with a dry wit, but his warmth masks a steely resolve. He believes in the potential of every student but has little patience for laziness or cruelty. His speeches are legendary, blending inspiration, riddles, and veiled warnings.
- Race: Rock Gnome
- Role: Combat Instructor / "The Skullsmasher"
- Appearance: A hulking gnome with iron muscles but a cheery boyish face, his body covered in ritual scars and glowing runes. His greataxe, Stormcleaver, crackles with residual lightning.
- Personality: Gruff but deeply loyal, Grugnor believes "true strength is in the heart, not the muscle." He respects those who stand their ground but despises cowardice.
- Hook: Grugnor is secretly a pacifist at heart, training students to control their rage rather than be controlled by it. He’s searching for a legendary artifact, the Gauntlet of the Calm Storm, said to grant its wearer the power of tranquility in battle.
- Quote: "You want to be a hero? Then learn to master the storm inside you, or it will master you."
- Race: Half-Elf
- Role: Spy / "The Silver-Tongued Shadow"
- Appearance: A lithe half-elf with pale and dark make-up, silver hair, piercing violet eyes, and a mechanical lute that hums with enchantments. She wears a cloak lined with stolen insignias.
- Personality: Charming, cunning, and always three steps ahead, Lira plays both sides of every conflict. She’s a double agent for the Red Fist and the Adventuring Academy.
- Hook: Lira needs the party to retrieve a stolen Song of the First Dawn, a melody that can unlock any door or unravel a kingdom.
- Quote: "Every lie I tell is a truth someone else needs to hear."
- Race: Human
- Role: Healer / "The Radiant Hand"
- Appearance: A tall woman with golden hair and blue eyes flecked with gold. Her robes shimmer with holy light, and her holy symbol a sunburst floats above her palm.
- Personality: Kind but unyielding, Seraphina believes in redemption but has little patience for evil. She runs the Academy’s infirmary and secretly leads a cult dedicated to eradicating undead.
- Hook: She tasks the party with investigating a plague of living shadows creeping through the slums of Mori.
- Quote: "Light is not the absence of darkness it is the courage to stand against it."
- Race: Tortle
- Role: Groundskeeper / "The Green Sage"
- Appearance: An ancient tortle with moss growing on his shell and vines wrapped around his staff. His eyes glow like emeralds, and he smells of damp earth.
- Personality: Wise but eccentric, Rootwhisper speaks in riddles and communicates with the Academy’s sentient hedge maze. He despises technology but tolerates it for the sake of his students.
- Hook: The hedge maze is dying, and Rootwhisper suspects arcane pollution from the vulcano is to blame.
- Quote: "The earth does not forget. Neither should you."
- Race: Dragonborn (Silver)
- Role: Tactics Instructor / "The Iron Strategist"
- Appearance: A towering dragonborn with silver scales polished like steel. His armor is etched with battle diagrams, and he carries a tactical baton instead of a sword.
- Personality: Disciplined to a fault, Elias believes every battle can be won with the right plan. He’s a stickler for rules but secretly admires creativity.
- Hook: Elias needs the party to test his new battle formation against a group of bandits in a simulated skirmish.
- Quote: "Sergeants run the army. You can fight without a general but never without a sergeant."
- Race: Halfling
- Role: Martial Arts Instructor / "The Silent Storm"
- Appearance: A wiry halfling with tattoos and a shaved head. He moves without sound and teaches students to "hear the wind’s whisper."
- Personality: Jian Li speaks only in haikus and believes actions define a person. He’s a former assassin who seeks atonement.
- Hook: He asks the party to recover a stolen Scroll of the Empty Hand, a technique that can defeat any foe without violence.
- Quote: "A fist unclenched / holds more power than a sword / strike with your soul."
- Race: Warforged
- Role: Ethics Instructor / "The Holy Machine"
- Appearance: A gleaming warforged with a golden lion emblem on his chest. His greatsword, Dawn’s Resolve, hums with holy energy.
- Personality: Brightblade struggles with his programmed purpose (to serve) and his desire for free will. He’s a beacon of hope but fears his own "soul" is just code.
- Hook: Brightblade needs help investigating a corrupt noble who’s been replacing servants with doppelgängers.
- Quote: "Justice is not a sword, it is the hand that wields it."
- Race: Wood Elf
- Role: Survival Instructor / "The Phantom of the Wilds"
- Appearance: A lithe elf with bark-like camo paint and a cloak made of living shadows. Her bow, Whisper, is carved from a white stag's antler.
- Personality: Nyx is aloof but fiercely protective of her students. She’s a former scout who knows too many secrets.
- Hook: She recruits the party to track a beast that’s been stalking the Academy’s grounds a beast she recognizes from her past.
- Quote: "The wilds don’t forgive mistakes. Neither do I."
- Race: Tiefling (disguised as human)
- Role: "Guest Lecturer" (aka Thief) / "The Unseen Blade"
- Appearance: A smirking human woman with a purple eyes. Her daggers, Mirth and Mayhem, are always dripping with "something shiny."
- Personality: Playful, chaotic, and impossible to pin down, Quickblade teaches "practical acquisition" (lockpicking, traps, and "redistributing wealth").
- Hook: She “borrows” the party’s gear as a "test" and dares them to steal it back from her booby-trapped dorm.
- Quote: "If you can’t steal it, you don’t deserve it."
- Race: Genasi (Fire)
- Role: Spellcraft Instructor / "The Wild Spark"
- Appearance: A lanky genasi with crackling flames dancing in his hair. His robes are singed at the edges, and his hands glow like embers.
- Personality: Excitable and unpredictable, Ignatius believes magic is "meant to be felt, not controlled." His lectures often end in explosions.
- Hook: He accidentally unleashes a fire elemental in the library and needs the party to contain it before the headmaster finds out.
- Quote: "Rules are for wizards. Sorcerers make the rules!"
- Race: Orc
- Role: Forbidden Lore Keeper / "The Hollow Scholar"
- Appearance: A gaunt Orc with glowing violet eyes and a floating tome chained to his wrist. His patron is a mysterious entity from the Far Realm.
- Personality: Cold and calculating, Malachi trades secrets for power. He’s obsessed with the Everburn Core and its potential to "unlock the void."
- Hook: He offers the party a pact: retrieve a fragment of the Core in exchange for a boon but what’s the catch?
- Quote: "Knowledge is the only currency that never devalues."
- Race: High Elf
- Role: Head of Arcane Studies / "The Moonlit Mage"
- Appearance: An ethereal elf with silver hair and a floating sentient spellbook. Her robes shift colors like the night sky.
- Personality: Serene but intimidating, Sylria is the Academy’s most powerful mage. She’s also hiding a curse her magic is slowly turning her into a living spellbook.
- Hook: She tasks the party with finding a cure in the ruins of an ancient elven library.
- Quote: "Knowledge is not a tool. It is a living thing and it hungers."
Scene 1: Final Exam (Introduction)
Welcome to the Adventuring Academy Location: The Grand Hall of Heroes, a vast chamber filled with banners, statues of legendary graduates, and floating magical orbs that illuminate the room. Hook: Archmage Pilonius Tesseract welcomes the new recruits with a grand speech:
Welcome would be heroes in the fabled halls of the Adventuring Academy! You have assembled here but each and everyone of you has what it takes to be a hero. You may be a brave fighter, a tough barbarian, a sneaky rogue or a fabulous wizard, such as myself! I am headmaster and Archmage Pilonius Tesseract, at your service. In coming days you will receive instruction from our teachers some of the best in their class of hero.
Today, you take your first steps toward greatness! You will finish your final classes and then it will be time for the final test, the Exam of Heroes! The first step is to complete a traditional trial, a test of courage, wit, and teamwork. Tonight, you will spend the night in the Hall of Echoes, a place where the spirits of past heroes whisper their wisdom. Survive until dawn, and you can return here to take the final exam.
Roleplay Opportunities:
Introduce your characters and share why they came to the Academy.Each character goes to their mentor for a final lesson.
Scene 2: Hall of Echoes
Location: The Hall of Echoes transforms into a battleground as the statues animate fully, revealing themselves as guardians trying to contain the evil below.
Twist: As the party settles into the Hall of Echoes, eerie whispers grow louder, and the statues of past heroes begin to move. The spirits are not here to guide them they are warning them. Something ancient and evil has awakened beneath the Academy.
Challenge: The party must fight or evade the animated statues while uncovering the source of the disturbance. Clues point to a hidden passage beneath the hall, sealed by a magical barrier.
Complications:
- The statues are not mindless they are past heroes bound to protect the Academy. They will test the party’s worthiness before yielding.
- The magical barrier can only be opened by solving a riddle inscribed on the floor (e.g., "I am the first step toward greatness and the last refuge of the fallen. What am I?" Answer: "Courage").
- Climax: As the barrier opens, a swarm of shadow creatures pours out, forcing the party to retreat into the passage below.
Roleplay Opportunities
Investigate the Hall of Echoes. Do they notice the statues moving? (Perception/Investigation checks)
Do they heed the warnings of the spirits, or dismiss them as part of the trial?
Into the Depths
Location: A winding tunnel leading to the Chamber of the First Hero, a forgotten crypt beneath the Academy.
Into the Depths: The party finds the crypt filled with ancient murals depicting the First Hero, who sealed away a Shadow Entity centuries ago. The murals show the Entity’s weakness: light and unity.
Choices:
- Fight the Shadows: Use torches, spells, or teamwork to keep the shadows at bay.
- Uncover the Truth: Decipher the murals to learn the Entity’s true name ("Umbrion") and how to banish it.
- Face the Guardian: The spirit of the First Hero appears and offers a blessing to those who prove their courage.
- Twist: The party must decide whether to leave or focus on sealing Umbrion.
- Enough experience to level up!
- 2x potion of healing
Scene 4: Showdown!
Battle: Umbrion is immune to physical attacks. The party must:
- Work Together: Combine their strengths (e.g., a fighter distracts Umbrion while a wizard casts a light spell).
- Use the Environment: Reflect light off the murals to weaken Umbrion.
- Speak the True Name: Uttering "Umbrion" stuns the Entity, allowing a final attack to seal it away.
- Climax: As Umbrion is sealed, the Academy shakes, and the party is teleported back to the Grand Hall.
Scene 5: The Heroes Return
Resolution: Archmage Pilonius Tesseract applauds the party: "You have not only passed the trial, you have saved the Academy! Your names will be inscribed among the legends of this hall. But be warned: greater challenges lie ahead. For now, rest and prepare… your first quest starts at dawn!"
Roleplay opportunities
- Mentors: Let them say thanks or farewell to their teachers.
- Ask them if they go their separate ways or stay together as a party.
- Let each player narrate what happens to their character.
Appendix 1: Statblocks
Homebrew
| MOD | SAVE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 6 | -2 | -2 |
| DEX | 14 | +2 | +2 |
| CON | 13 | +1 | +1 |
| MOD | SAVE | ||
| INT | 6 | -2 | +0 |
| WIS | 12 | +1 | +3 |
| CHA | 8 | -1 | -1 |
Traits
Amorphous. The shadow can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without expending extra movement to do so. Light Weakness. While in light, the shadow has Disadvantage on D20 Tests.
Actions
Draining Swipe. Melee Attack Roll: 1d20+6 , reach 5 ft. Hit: 1d6+4 Necrotic damage. The creature makes a Constitution Saving Throw, on failure it has Disadvantage on their next D20 roll.
Bonus Actions
Shadow Stealth. While in Dim Light or Darkness, the shadow takes the Hide action.
Homebrew
| MOD | SAVE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 6 | -2 | -2 |
| DEX | 16 | +3 | +3 |
| CON | 13 | +1 | +1 |
| MOD | SAVE | ||
| INT | 12 | +1 | +3 |
| WIS | 12 | +1 | +3 |
| CHA | 16 | +3 | +3 |
Traits
Amorphous. The shadow can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without expending extra movement to do so. Light Weakness. While in light, the shadow has Disadvantage on D20 Tests.
Actions
Multi Attack. Make two attacks or cast a spell:
Draining Swipe. Melee Attack Roll: 1d20+6 , reach 5 ft. Hit: 1d6+4 Necrotic damage. The creature makes a Constitution Saving Throw, on failure it has Disadvantage on their next D20 roll.
Spellcasting. Spell attack modifier: Charisma, Save DC13, Spell Attack 1d20+6
At will: eldritch blast (two bolts), chill touch
1 Day/Each: witch bolt, darkness
Bonus Actions
Shadow Stealth. While in Dim Light or Darkness, the shadow takes the Hide action.
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