#sunlesscitadel

[margomods]

Sunless Citadel Companion

A few days ago, I released the Roll20 addon for my first book! The Sunless Citadel Companion is a detailed expansion and DM's Guide for the classic D&D adventure!

Never in my life as a scientist have I missed working on a finished project—I already miss this world and the characters in it. Luckily, I can always find them right where I left them with a batch of new players.

My dream is that others step into this world and make it theirs. If that's you: I'd love to hear your story.

In today's climate, with generative AI poised to saturate the market, it has become even more important for me to put my money where my mouth is. The money I make off of this project will go right back into hiring artists for future projects. I can't wait to see what we make next :)

If you like this cover, check out Chelsea Crane's other work @silversteampunk

[thisyellowworld]

Quick sketch of my Tuesday Night campaign character Byk Młotek, the #minotaur #fighter. #dungeonsanddragonsart #dungeonsanddragons #sunlesscitadel #originalcharacter #playdnd (at Clintonville, Columbus, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZmeulWuzJ0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[themadcartographer]

Hey all!

For the next two months I’m making a whole host of supporting maps for Curse of Strahd and Rime of the Frostmaiden, for the first release from the theme I tackled The Gulthias Tree from Curse of Strahd! I’m very conscious about mentioning anything about the modules due to the spoiler’ish nature, but you can check out more details about this monstrous tree on my Patreon post where you can also download this version of the map and more.

This map was made alongside a great composer, Adventure Music, who made a fantastic track to accompany this ominous scene! You can download the track for free along with the map!

Follow my Patreon and you’ll be notified when new maps from these two side-by-side themes are released, or subscribe to get access to multiple variations, asset tokens and monthly themed Map Packs for Foundry VTT!

You can download the map from: https://www.patreon.com/themadcartographer

Check out Adventure Music: https://www.patreon.com/adventuremusicjr

Hope ya’ll enjoy! Alex

[aaronpolson-blog]

A funny thing happened on the way to Oakhurst... my eight-year-old son and I smashed some twig blights while uncovering secrets of The Sunless Citadel today. What's on your table? . . #dungeonmaster #dungeonsanddragons #5e #dnd5e #dndminiatures #gamemaster #pathfinder #gamenight #gameday #tabletop #rpg #dnd #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons5e #tabletopterrain #sunlesscitadel #thesunlesscitadel #twigblight #thinklikeamonster #monstermanual #fantasy #swordandsorcery #adventure #familystuff #wedoplay (at Lawrence, Kansas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEPjjZDnOlc/?igshid=4zdq4vvkjn5p

[jmunsonii]

D&D Saturday! Oh crap! Fire snakes galore! #MayNotMakeIt #MightDie #TPK Exploring the #SunlessCitadel using @reddragonminis #Tru-Grid (#TruGrid) Gaming Tile System. #dungeonsanddragons #dnd #5e #dndminiatures #miniatures #figure #dndmini #minifigures #dndterrain https://www.instagram.com/p/B5OSwZMBJFT/?igshid=a7201ockjnsi

[erynavensara-blog]

Getting Trolled, Hard

Like every adventurer should, we start cleaning up the sunless citadel of any beasties still lurking within. We found a room with what looked like a giant beer barrel inside it, but it had pipes running into the walls. As stupid people do, we decide to crack it open and look inside, only to be attacked by two very angry mephits. I guess we just broke their house, so their anger is understandable. What we didn’t know was that the little blights can summon more of their kind, so that fight ended up being a bit harder than it had to be.

After a quick rest (those little shits burned me!), we hear some meek “hello?” calls from the entrance of the citadel. I decide to go check it out while everyone else was busy doing less important things, and I see a rather cute man in strange clothing calling out. He doesn’t look too threatening, so I went to see what was up. Turns out he’s from the Harpers; a bard called Zaphiel who was sent by Zelarwen to hurry us up and help us get to Neverwinter before our boat to Chult left. I guess he can help us finish up here.

New bard in tow, carry on through a creepy looking door with some dragon’s face on it. I think we were told it was Ashardalon, an ancient red dragon that terrorised the lands some time ago. We got the door’s key off the kobolds, so I guess they were too scared to check their master’s hidden passages, too.

What happened next was the pinnacle of stupidity.

Opening the door, we see a room with ancient statues of elven warriors, and a glowing, humming crystal ball. Creepy musty room with a lit up arcane object in it, let’s be careful, yeah? Nope, Istimar decides to poke the bear - or in this case, the crystal ball. Hum turns to creepy as fuck music and suddenly everyone but Istimar is fleeing for their lives out of the citadel. To make matters worse, the music wakes a bunch of giant rats up, much to my displeasure.

After overcoming the creepy music and mopping up the last of the disgusting rats, we make our way back to the room, only to find that the door was shut. Has the idiot locked himself in? We check down a corridor leading to the next area, and he’s face down in the dust. I just thought he’d decided to take a nap, but Marduk found some poison arrows stuck in his face and his ass. Pretty funny, but now we have to wait for the imbecile to wake up.

Moving on, we come to an ominous looking mausoleum, with even more elven statues and a large coffin in the middle. Weird though, the coffin looked more like it was keeping something from getting out of it, instead of trying to stop people getting in for whatever treasure this ancient sarcophagus may hold. I decided to watch Marduk flex those muscles of his and break open the coffin.

The weirdest thing was inside it.

A troll!

A really nice-sounding troll with a high elven accent!

I wanted to help him, he sounded so polite and didn’t attack us for no reason. He was a bit gross though, he looked kind of like a zombie - at least, what I’ve read about them - but he seemed to be of sound mind. Well, he was of sound mind, but I guess I just look too delicious because he tried to take a bite out of me.

Yup, that happened.

I guess Istimar was right when he was trying to signal us to attack, but I just feel bad for the poor chap. I guess I know not to trust creepy undead trolls now. We fought it, but the ugly fucker knocked me out, and next thing I know I’ve been dragged to the side while everyone else put it down with some flames. It kinda looked like Istimar was going to drag me away and run? At least, Zaphiel didn’t seem too happy with him.

Well, it looked like our work here was done. We were completely out of healing potions and resting wouldn’t do us any good, so we decide to risk the walk back to Oakhurst with two of us a sneeze away from passing out (again). That was the longest walk of my life.

[margomods]

Can't wait to grab and drag my PCs with the Gulthias Tree's roots tonight.

The statblock and the full map can be found in MargoMods Sunless Citadel Companion!

[aaronpolson-blog]

I remember my first fight against bugbears. My wizard foolishly jumped from a ledge, sprained his ankle, and then had one of these brutes looming over him. They are brutes, too--extra damage with their morningstars can be fatal at low levels. Bugbears are great enforcers or leaders of goblin gangs. I painted this guy to be Balsag the Hunter from The Sunless Citadel . Of course my players called him Ballsack... looking at tou, @chrispwildcat 😁 Happy gaming, friends! . . #dungeonmaster #dungeonsanddragons #5e #dnd5e #dndminiatures #monstermanual #thinklikeamonster #fantasyart #swordandsorcery #fantasy #gamemaster #pathfinder #art #miniatures #painting #paintingminiatures #miniaturepainting #tabletop #rpg #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons5e #dungeons&dragons #d&d #bugbear #bugbears #thesunlesscitadel #sunlesscitadel (at Lawrence, Kansas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEjWb0mnw80/?igshid=1b3uquwy2odwz

[jmunsonii]

D&D Saturday! Exploring the #SunlessCitadel using @reddragonminis #Tru-Grid (#TruGrid) Gaming Tile System. We found a large marble red dragon statue, a red magic circle on the floor, and some of distortion-being... #dungeonsanddragons #dnd #5e #dndminiatures #miniatures #figure #dndmini #minifigures #dndterrain https://www.instagram.com/p/B5N68K9hD2w/?igshid=daw6iwbip0q3

[erynavensara-blog]

How I Learned to Hate Trees

We confer with Ysdrayl before heading back into the goblin-infested shithole of a citadel. While talking, a weird-looking elf and his... bodyguard looking friend show up. The elf, which appears to be a drow when he rushes towards me with glee and calls me Alyssa, said he had been looking for me since I stopped replying to his letters over twenty years ago. The fuck? This is the first I’ve heard anything about my past. He knows things about me that pretty much prove his story, and he wants to join us with his friend, a scary as fuck tiefling called Spite, who has lost his brother in the citadel. Sure, the more the merrier.

First, I wanted justice for Giacomo.

We go back to where the goblins are hiding, and attack them, even though they were well prepared. An expertly aimed Firebolt from yours truly took out their stupid leader, Grenyl, in one hit. We clean up the rest of the goblins and carry on into the depths. We find a well covered in vines, and make our way down. Well, we found the twig blights, the little bastards were hiding in the vines! We take care of the pokey shits and some skeleton friends that joined in, only to be ambushed by some more goblins. We had some close calls, but cleaned those up too. We find a corridor with a collapsed wall. It looked like some of the adventuring party had been taken out here, and we find Talgen’s signet ring.

This must be where the Outcast is hiding. We find strange books on plant growth, and even a weird room that looks like a laboratory. Whatever is going on down here, it can’t be good. Progressing further in, we find a library. In our excitement, Istimar and I go in and seek spell scrolls or a book that can teach us something about the magical apples. I’ve quickly learned that Istimar’s lust for power can get us into some sticky situations, all too evident when he recklessly opens a warded book and blows us to high heaven. We survive, but none of the books or scrolls do. What an idiot.

Brushing ourselves off after a quick rest, we move further and find an area completely covered in brambles and small trees. We start to slowly move through it, only to get attacked by more of the stupid twig blights. I managed to lure one out of hiding with a well-placed illusion - I guess they’re not very intelligent! Their needle-like fingers really do hurt though. It’s like getting acupuncture off someone who has no idea what they’re doing.

We eventually progressed forward and got within sight of a tree that looked like it was out of a horror book or something. Simply put, it looked evil. It was surrounded by people: a hooded figure, a girl we can only assume to be Sharwyn wearing similar armour to her dead brother, an armoured man, and a tiefling. There were more of those ridiculous twig blights, too. But the girl and tiefling didn’t look right, their skin looked like bark and there was no light in their eyes. I wonder if we can save them...

A long battle later, we were able to subdue Sharwyn, but it seemed like the Outcast had done something to her that our magic could not fix. Sadly, the tree came to life, attacked us, and devoured our goblin friend, Gloits. We didn’t even have anything to bury. We also lost Spite during the battle, his grief at the loss of his brother just made him too reckless to fight well.

We decided the most humane thing would be to put Sharwyn down, and tell her mother that she died valiantly fighting the evil beneath the citadel. It seemed that this Outcast guy was trying to corrupt the land, and eventually the corruption got to this tree. The once red healing applies turned white and poisonous. We decided to make sure the citadel was cleansed of evil and get our payment off the kobolds before returning to the surface. We hoped we had time left to close any loose ends before the ship for Chult left Neverwinter!

[jmunsonii]

D&D Saturday! Exploring the #SunlessCitadel using @reddragonminis #Tru-Grid (#TruGrid) Gaming Tile System. We wandered into more #Goblin trouble - from the rooms around this room of columns. #dungeonsanddragons #dnd #5e #dndminiatures #miniatures #figure #dndmini #minifigures #dndterrain https://www.instagram.com/p/B30DrF0Bq7F/?igshid=14xqvrvqxpbli

[jmunsonii]

D&D Saturday! Exploring the #SunlessCitadel using @reddragonminis #Tru-Grid (#TruGrid) Gaming Tile System. We found a red-veined marble statue of a dragon that allowed us into this secret room... which led to a Troll Dragon Priest whom we defeated though lost a party member. #dungeonsanddragons #dnd #5e #dndminiatures #miniatures #figure #dndmini #minifigures #dndterrain https://www.instagram.com/p/B2sPl6eBuIy/?igshid=15t7lmm0idnde

[jmunsonii]

D&D Saturday! Exploring the #SunlessCitadel using @reddragonminis #Tru-Grid (#TruGrid) Gaming Tile System. We found a red-veined marble statue of a dragon that allowed us into this secret room... #dungeonsanddragons #dnd #5e #dndminiatures #miniatures #figure #dndmini #minifigures #dndterrain https://www.instagram.com/p/B2r-yt1h4Cf/?igshid=zdrqsg6hqfqf

[erynavensara-blog]

Goblins and Whelps

We went back to town to heal up and cure our diseased. The local priest was happy to help. While there, we purchased some new armour for the less dressed of us and decided to stay the night. We heard some rumours about a death curse: people who died stayed dead - resurrection magic wouldn’t work - and those who had been revived in the past had started to wither away and die. Was this linked to my tattoos? Am I too late to help?

I decided to have a drink with the group’s playboy, Giacomo. He looked like he might be good in the sack, might as well try and enjoy myself while I’m here. Sadly my favourite (ha!) Harper agent interrupted the fun when Giacomo excused himself to the men’s room. She told me she was looking for a task force to go to Chult and see what can be done about this curse. They’d found out that an artifact called the Soulmonger was the cause of the curse, and it was somewhere in Chult. Good ol’ Zelly disappeared after our little chat. She was also eyeing up Giacomo, which I wasn’t very happy about...

That night, I decided to go see Giacomo in his room and have a little fun, but when I knocked, the fucker wasn’t even there! So much for that plan. At least one of the barkeeps, Maverick, is rather nice looking. He kept making eyes at me when I was having a drink with Giacomo, so I decided to take him to my room instead. Oh Giacomo, you’re missing out!

After a very good night (feeling a bit rough, to be honest) we went back to the citadel, disease-free. Giacomo was looking pleased with himself, not sure why though. We also noticed that our dwarven friend had disappeared. Maybe he had one too many ales and got lost somewhere. Oh well, we must carry on.

A few scrapes later, we come across a gnome cleric called Erky, and a strange man. He was manacled to the wall, but was sleeping like a baby. I woke him up, and he broke free. He wasn’t really sure how he’d got there... he fell asleep and then woke up when I slapped him in the face. He looked like he could fight, so we gathered up his stuff and carried on with him, and Erky in tow. He said his name was Marduk, but he didn’t really speak much after that. The gnome told us that the adventurers we were looking for were taken through the area to see some people called Duran and Belik. Well, at least we’re getting some info.

A few dead goblins later, we find that white dragon. It was not impressed at all. We tried to subdue it, but it killed Meepo - poor thing - and wouldn’t stop attacking us. We were forced to put it down. In the dragon’s makeshift hoard, we find a pink spellbook that belonged to someone called Alyssa. Perhaps it was a spare book that was stolen by the goblins.

Moving on, we find the goblins who stole the dragon, as well as their leader. Fighting them proved to be a mistake, as the leader killed my poor Giacomo with one spell! I was absolutely furious. To make matters worse, we were forced to make a temporary truce with the goblins when Duran, who turned out to be a hobgoblin, showed up and decided he wanted the goblins’ territory. We got rid of him and the goblins retreated. We needed to rest, but I wanted my revenge.

We’re forced to retreat back to Ysdrayl and the kobolds, and we explain that the goblins killed the dragon and Meepo (well, we didn’t want to get on their bad side too). We rest in Meepo’s room, and I study the book. It speaks of elven wizards called bladesingers, and has a few spells in it. Surprisingly, I pick these up very quickly. Maybe it’s because I’m a sun elf?

[erynavensara-blog]

Kobolds and Catacombs

Well, I finally got to Oakhurst and was informed by Zelarwen that a few other adventurers had made their way here to try and help the town. The possible treasures hidden beneath the citadel were too tempting for some, it seems. I got myself acquainted and met the group:

Arogas, the Dwarf Barbarian (didn’t really speak much, not sure if there’s much going on up there...)

Giacomo, the Halfelf Bard (gods, this man is pretty)

Gloits, the Goblin Druid (smells a bit, but seems okay)

Shadow, the Tabaxi Ranger (never seen a Tabaxi before, kinda cute? I wonder if they shed...)

We were asked by the town to form a search party for some missing adventurers who went into the sunken citadel to seek answers on what had been happening to their town. The goblins who moved into the citadel twelve years prior traded a magical apple with Oakhurst once a year, and this apple is the magical healing one I heard about. However, this year, the apple was white instead of red, and those who touched it wound up dead. Also, a few months ago, the local cattle started to die out. They would die overnight and be found in the morning with strange marks, as if they were stabbed by the thinnest of rapiers. Two young farmhands who stayed out one night to watch the remaining livestock also ended up dead in the same way. Pretty sad, really.

Before leaving for the citadel, Kerowyn Hucrele, the mother of two missing adventurers, asked us to at least return with their signet rings, so she can have some closure. They’ve been missing for three weeks now, so she’s pretty much lost all hope for them.

On our way in, a bunch of disgusting rats attack us and I nearly die. How embarrassing would that have been? All this work, and I die to rats. Wow.

Carrying on. This place is awful, there are stupid traps everywhere. Good job our catman has a good eye for traps. We progress, slithering past gross goblin corpses (the adventurers must have got to them) and some old bones that wouldn’t stay down, and we stumble upon a really sad kobold. I mean, I don’t think I’ve met a kobold before, but this guy was as pathetic as they come. Very cute though, I’d have one as a pet. Luckily Shadow speaks Draconic so we were able to have an easier conversation with him, since the kobold’s Common was terrible.

The kobold, Meepo, tells us that the goblins who live in the citadel have stolen the kobold’s prize pet: a baby white dragon. We offer to help (you can’t say no to such a sad face) and Meepo takes us to his leader, a female kobold called Ysdrayl. I had to restrain myself from running up and smooshing the cheeks of the leader, she was even more adorable than Meepo! Her guards were a bit scary though. Ysdrayl tells us that creatures called twig blights have been killing the cattle in Oakhurst, and they were unleashed by someone called the Outcast. The Outcast also grew the apples and gave one to the goblins to sell.

The kobolds kindly let us use their territory to take a shortcut through the citadel, and we progress into goblin territory to try and find the adventurers and this Outcast fellow. Sadly, some bad luck with traps and disgusting diseased rats meant we had to retreat back to Oakhurst and let our sick party members rest.

[zacharyclayton-blog]

Nice game last night everyone, @rpgbros, @cockbrocker, @orcryst!! Good job on finishing Sunless Citadel! It can be daunting, finishing any quest in a timely manner with a group of 4-5, when everyone just enjoys each other company. The residents of Oakhurst will no doubt be anxious to hear word of your return. #d20 #dnd #dnd5e #tabletopgames #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonsanddragons5e #dmzayton #sunlesscitadel #seattlednd #wotc #rpg #oggamer #faerûn #homebrew