One-Shot: Adventuring Academy - Players Edition
One-Shot
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: All species, all classes (custom steampunk classes available on demand) and backgrounds available in the Free rules/Player's Handbook 2024 including the species listed in the Playable Species section. Backgrounds can be customized (take any Origin feat, Ability Score Improvement, 2 skills and (2 tools or 2 languages or 1 language and 1 tool). Custom backgrounds are subject to review and you may be asked to alter parts by the DM.
Attribute Scores: Standard array or Point Buy
Hit Points: Average fixed
Origin Feat: Take an Origin Feat
World background information: Welcome to Morea - an introduction
On one of the continents, a mighty Empire has risen from the ashes using science and technology to create great cities of steel, concrete and smoke.
Another great force in the world is the magical kingdom founded by the last of the Elves mixing their blood with humans. They try to re-establish magic as the leading force.
In the frozen wastes live the clans of the north. They hate magic with a passion and will kill any magic user on sight.
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: All species, all classes (custom steampunk classes available on demand) and backgrounds available in the Free rules/Player's Handbook 2024 including the species listed in the Playable Species section. Backgrounds can be customized (take any Origin feat, Ability Score Improvement, 2 skills and (2 tools or 2 languages or 1 language and 1 tool). Custom backgrounds are subject to review and you may be asked to alter parts by the DM.
Attribute Scores: Standard array or Point Buy
Hit Points: Average fixed
Origin Feat: Take an Origin Feat
World background information: Welcome to Morea - an introduction
The world in a nutshell
Morea is a mixed world with a variety of elements:
- Post-apocalyptic
- Low magic areas
- No Gods
On one of the continents, a mighty Empire has risen from the ashes using science and technology to create great cities of steel, concrete and smoke.
Another great force in the world is the magical kingdom founded by the last of the Elves mixing their blood with humans. They try to re-establish magic as the leading force.
In the frozen wastes live the clans of the north. They hate magic with a passion and will kill any magic user on sight.
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 Theras City, the capital of the Kingdom of Theresia, 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."
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