About this product

A Mystery of Lost Time and Creeping Horror You only meant to stay for the night. The fire is warm. The food is good. The beds are clean. The innkeeper is welcoming. By morning, one of the guests is missing. Nobody seems particularly worried. And when you try to leave, the road brings you back. The Hollow Lantern is a dark, atmospheric horror adventure for a party of approximately four to five characters (Scaled for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level). Designed to be dropped into almost any fantasy campaign, it trades endless dungeon corridors for creeping unease, disappearing memories, and the growing certainty that something inside the inn does not want its guests to leave. At first, everything appears normal. Then small details begin to slip. A familiar conversation happens again. Someone you spoke to yesterday has apparently been gone for weeks. The inn’s guest book contains names you do not remember signing beside dates that should be impossible. And beneath the Hollow Lantern, something is feeding. The adventure unfolds over several increasingly disturbing days as the characters investigate the inn, its inhabitants, and their own unreliable memories. Rather than relying on players stumbling across a single vital clue, the scenario uses escalating events to keep the mystery moving and the pressure rising. Inside you’ll find: A complete psychological-horror adventure for 5e-compatible play. A seemingly ordinary inn that gradually reveals its true condition. A structured series of events that prevents the investigation from stalling. Memory loss and distorted perception woven directly into the mystery. Multiple NPCs trapped within the Hollow Lantern, each affected in different ways. Finding the truth behind the inn’s unnatural calm, and the horrifying realization of how much time has really passed. A descent beneath the inn into its forgotten cellar and flooded cavern. A climactic confrontation with the creature that has kept the Hollow Lantern alive. Player handouts, location material, maps, and adventure aids for running the scenario at the table. The horror of The Hollow Lantern is not that the characters have entered somewhere obviously dangerous. They may not realize they are in danger at all. The first night is comfortable. The second is strange. By the time the truth becomes clear, leaving may no longer be an option. How long have you been staying at the Hollow Lantern?

Details

System

D&D 5e (2024)

Character levels

1 to 3

Players

3 to 5

Length

One-shot