A DnD Escape Room

DM Ben wanted a home-brewed exit encounter within a D&D Beyond 5e module to introduce a new central NPC. Let’s see the how and why of what he built.

It’s not a stretch to think there’s a shared wall in a cavern that, if discovered, can lead to a surprising way out of trouble. That’s the story hook we’re going for here, and 3DRPG will introduce a few articles this week that show how we plan on making this all happen.

A quick reminder to new readers that we are playing D&D Beyond’s 5e free Acquisitions Incorporated module for both our home and office campaigns. We’ve inserted a lot of home-brewed content and have no plans to slow that content aspect down.

Early in the module, the players must inspect a large sinkhole that appeared in Waterdeep after a series of earthquakes. Once they complete all the encounters, the module tells them to turn around and exit the Fissure. That is a bit of a thud in DM Ben’s mind. He wanted a more intriguing departing encounter that also introduced one of his first homebrewed NPCs (Ewan McHook).

The players will ultimately detect the shared wall by rolling on a d20 Events Table. There will be more to come on that later this week. However, for today, let’s assume they have completed that challenge and broken through to the seaside storage room.

We’re pulling several different scatter terrain pieces from our DnD terrain library, including wall/floor tiles and wooden door by Hirst Arts, tarped cargo by EC3D Designs, a set of sacks and fish baskets by Cast n Play, and then a couple of ruined terrain tiles by Milestone Heroes.

The storage room will be eerily quiet and dark, but the faint sounds of the ocean can be heard through the thin wooden door at the top of the stairs. DM Ben will allow for a quick investigation check of the crates so they can get their location bearings. However, shortly thereafter, they will hear a loud voice coming from beyond the door. “Shamus! Where are you? Go tie that boat off; the wind is picking up!”

The players will be super curious and ultimately go to the top of the stairs and peer out. They will see a young boy named Shamus entertaining himself with a ball and sorta hiding from his chore-tasking father. He will spot the party member who opened the door and playfully roll the ball to them.

If the player rolls it back and charms the boy to keep quiet (DC 12 but advantage if they roll the ball back), he winks and runs off before he gets in trouble from his Dad, Ewan McHook.

This is the players’ chance to exit the Fissure without being detected (as they have a target on their back from impersonating the original adventurers hired to clear it out).

Sadly, Shamus ultimately becomes one of the captured kiddos by the Night Hag, so he will definitely reappear in the story. See?! Our home-brewed encounter is much more engaging and introduces new NPCs and a storyline.

Until next time!