The Moonwell Bell – A Dark Fantasy Sandbox for Shadowdark RPG
Par Dark Hand
Statut actuel
À venir
Fin de campagne : 01/11/2026
The Moonwell Bell is Book One of Tales from the Everdark, a series of stalone dark fantasy sandbox adventures for Shadowdark RPG.
This 200+ page adventure is written for four characters of levels 5–7.
The party arrives in Blackroot, a marsh village on the old road to Moonwell Abbey. The abbey sank years ago. Now its funeral bell is ringing again, and no one in Blackroot agrees on why.
The characters can head straight for the abbey, or spend several sessions in Blackroot deciding whose story they believe.
There is no required route through the adventure and no fixed ending.
BELL TOLL & WATER LEVEL TRACKER
Follow the project before launch, then back The Moonwell Bell during the campaign to receive the Bell Toll & Water Level Tracker when the campaign ends.
This one-page GM aid tracks:
- all eight bell tolls
- all six flooding stages of Moonwell Abbey
It keeps both timelines visible during play without having to search through the book.
- 200+ PAGES - The complete adventure, including Blackroot, Moonwell Abbey, and the surrounding marsh.
- 8 PATRONS - Major NPCs with their own quests, secrets, motives, and relationships.
- 8 TIMED BELL TOLLS - A simple structure for advancing events in Blackroot and tracking the approach of night.
- 6 FLOODING STAGES - Moonwell Abbey changes as the water rises.
- 10+ RELICS AND CURSED OBJECTS - Strange objects that can help, harm, or create new problems.
- 15 ENEMY PROFILES - Enemies written for the main adventure, including one creature with two distinct forms.
- 10 ADDITIONAL MARSH CREATURES - Creatures for travel and encounters throughout the Blackroot marsh.
- 6 ADDITIONAL SITES - Locations outside Blackroot and Moonwell Abbey.
- 50+ ROLLABLE TABLES - Tables for clues, NPC behavior, village events, marsh travel, treasure, encounters, and exploration.
- 10 PRACTICAL TOOLS - Equipment made by one of Blackroot’s patrons for characters who would rather solve a problem than fight it.
- 3 REUSABLE LOCATION GENERATORS - Tools for creating new places beyond the main adventure.
- MARSH VILLAGE GENERATOR - A complete generator for building additional settlements elsewhere in the Everdark.
Blackroot is a village in a cursed marsh. It is not simply a place to buy supplies before entering the dungeon.
The village has its own problems, rivalries, secrets, and unfinished business.
There is plenty to do in Blackroot, but none of it is mandatory. The characters can leave for the abbey whenever they choose.
What they do in Blackroot can change what happens later.
Blackroot is built to support several sessions of play before the party enters Moonwell Abbey.
Blackroot contains eight major patrons. Their goals do not always agree. Working for one can complicate matters with another.
Each has:
- A reason to hire the party
- Their own interests
- A personal quest
- Secrets and guilt
- Relationships with other patrons
- Information about Blackroot or Moonwell Abbey
The party is not expected to complete every patron quest or uncover every secret in one campaign.
Relationships can change during play. A hostile patron may become useful. An ally may turn against the party. Under the right circumstances, one patron may even fall in love with a character.
The Moonwell Bell gives the GM a living situation to run, not a sequence of scenes.
The players decide where to go. The GM keeps track of time and how Blackroot and the abbey respond.
The adventure still works when large parts of it remain undiscovered.
There is no single ending to The Moonwell Bell. Blackroot and the abbey may be in a very different state from one campaign to another.
Some problems may be solved. Others may simply belong to someone else by the end.
With Gratitude
My thanks to Jeremy Hart, John D. Batten, M. Meredith Williams, V. Witch, Daniel Comerci, Jean Francois Senay, Terry Herc, and Daniel F. Walthall.
Your work gave The Moonwell Bell much of its character and atmosphere, and was a constant source of inspiration while putting the book together.
My thanks to Kelsey Dionne and The Arcane Library for creating Shadowdark RPG.
It is a game I genuinely admire, and one that kept giving me ideas while The Moonwell Bell was taking shape.
▶ Vidéos (0)
Pas encore de vidéo pour ce jeu.
Commentaires (0)
Connecte-toi pour commenter ou répondre.
Pas encore de commentaire. Lance la discussion.