5E Solo Gamebooks - Tyrant of Zhentil Keep - Adventure Booklet.pdf

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Tyrant of
Zhentil Keep
A Solo Gamebook
for Dungeons & Dragons (fifth edition)
-Adventure Booklet-
by PAUL BIMLER
 
 
CREDITS:    
All  text  by  Paul  Bimler  
Art  by  Patrick  E.  Pullen,  William  McAusland,  Thomas  Conroy,  Matej  Cadil,  
Larry  Elmore,  Tom  Prante,  Johan  Jaeger,  David  Revoy,  R.  Flowers,  Jenna  Fowler  
Maps  by  Paul  Bimler  
Except  Map  5&6:  Tavern  Map  by  Alan  Patrick  
&  Maps  7,  8  &  17:  Courtesy  DMs  Guild  Resources  /  Arcana  Games  
Playtested  by:  Shayne  Rodrigues,  David  Bond,    Adrian  Aguirre  Riofrio,    
Kristina  Chun,  Christopher  Seo  West,  Jake  Lee  Norris  
 
 
 
 
 
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand,
Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide,
D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other
countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the
United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written
permission of Wizards of the Coast.
©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by
Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.
 
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TYRANT OF ZHENTIL KEEP:
A DM-LESS ADVENTURE!
 
 
INTRODU CTION
Welcome to the second in our series of solo
adventures,
Tyrant of Zhentil Keep
, the first
instalment in a two-part gamebook quest for
D&D Fifth Edition. Briefly, this is a D&D 5e
adventure designed for one level 3 player,
without a DM. It can also be played by two
players without a DM, as a DM+1 adventure
or even as a full campaign with multiple
players, but it is primarily designed for a solo
player. The written narrative entries in this
book serve in place of the dungeon master,
and guide you through the adventure. These
solo DM-less quests are not trying to be
anything other than what they are – a stand-
in for your regular game with your Dungeon
Master. If you have not yet played with a
dungeon master, I highly recommend you do
so as soon as possible, or become a DM
yourself (the most fun) and run a game for
some local players. Actual tabletop D&D, in
a social setting, is how the game was always
meant to be played.
 
But I’d like to think that this type of solo
adventure would be a welcome diversion for
those who, despite all efforts, cannot find a
game, who need more D&D than their
dungeon master can provide, or who are DMs
themselves that don’t often get a chance to
play.
Like the first 5e Solo Gamebook, (
The Death
Knight’s Squire
), this adventure is set in the
Forgotten Realms. It continues on from
Death Knight’s Squire
sequentially and
narratively, presupposing that the character
who successfully completed the first quest
(and advanced to level 3) is now embarking
on a new quest. This quest is bigger, badder,
and more dangerous, and I hope even more
fun for you as players.
Tyrant of Zhentil Keep
is a mini-sandbox in
gamebook form, with multiple sidequests and
locations to explore. Such exploration enables
the collection of artefacts and information, all
leading towards a central story arc that
becomes clear as the book progresses. Where
Death Knight’s Squire
had a clear-cut
mission at its core, this adventure is pure
exploration at first, similar to how a game
with a Dungeon Master might run. The
 
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nature of your quest becomes clearer as you
advance, collecting snippets of information
and encountering various NPCs, locations,
and sidequests.
So what will you need for this quest? For
now a
Player’s Handbook
is a handy thing to
have, so you can learn what new abilities
your character has gained. If you did not
begin with a level 2 PC and play through the
Death Knight’s Squire
adventure, you could
go and do so now! Or you could just create a
new 3
rd
level PC and play using that
character (see ‘Character Creation’ below).
Even if you have read the introduction to
Death Knight’s Squire
, read this new
introduction as well, as the mechanics and
system of play are slightly different to the
first book. For example, in this book you will
see new map styles, you will see combat
sheets, and different ways of navigating
through the narrative text, including
codewords.
This adventure is not easy. The whole idea of
‘balance’… meh. Real life isn’t balanced, and
sometimes you will encounter things beyond,
or below, your abilities. Roleplay your way
out of stuff, sometimes avoiding potential
combat if you can. It’s a marathon, not a
sprint. Be clever. Take your time with each
entry and really consider what you should
do. I like opportunities for roleplay and I’ve
tried my best to give you options in this
regard. Be aware, however, that as this is a
gamebook, the amount of options will always
necessarily be limited.
If you do not have access to the Dungeons &
Dragons books like the Players Handbook,
there is a handy PDF that Wizards of the
Coast have kindly put out. It covers all the
basic rules and can be found at this web
address:
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basi
crules
MULTI-PART ADVENTURE
Before you begin the adventure, I need to
inform you that this is part one of a two-
part quest. There are multiple sidequests
which you can undertake and complete
within this game, but the main quest
takes place over two books, so please
don't be disappointed when the adventure
pauses at the end of this book. I was
initially going to make the adventure in
one book, but several authors advised me
to split it into two parts.
The next book,
Citadel of the Raven
, will
complete the quest. Rest assured, I am
working to get this out as quickly as
possible. You can expect it in early 2018.
M APS
Important note: Don’t look at the maps until
you are specifically directed to! You will only
be spoiling the surprise and gameplay for
yourself.
This adventure is played using two booklets:
♦
The Adventure Booklet, which
contains numbered entries that form
the narrative basis of the adventure,
and also map entries and combat
sheets.
♦
The M aps Booklet, which contains
maps that the PC may journey
through during the game, as directed
by the text. You may use these with
tokens or simply as a visual reference,
the choice is yours.
If you have access to a printer, you can print
the Maps Booklet, preferably in colour, for
the physical tabletop experience. Or, if you
want to pursue the quest from your laptop or
tablet, there are .png files of all the maps
provided in a compressed .zip file. Just load
up the map you need into Roll20 or whatever
when the text directs you to that map, and
 
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place and move your tokens using your
device.
The PDF contains active links that you click
on to move you between entries.
In the maps booklet, you will sometimes see
numbers placed on little pieces of parchment.
These represent numbered entries and you
can turn to those entries in the Adventure
Booklet to explore those locations, or to move
to adjacent maps. It will all become clear
once you start playing.
SPAW N POINTS
On the battle maps, you will see little circles
with letters inside them. These are spawn
points for monsters, NPCs and PCs (you).
This is where they start for the encounter,
but they are not stuck there. Once spawned,
they may move anywhere they want, up to
their allowance.
TOK ENS
If you are playing a tabletop style of
adventure with a printed maps booklet, find
something to function as PC and monster
tokens: game tokens, coins, dice, anything
with a bit of weight.
GRID
With maps featuring a square grid, each
square measures 5 ft. unless otherwise stated.
PROGRESS POINTS
Occasionally you will be asked to
keep track of a new stat:
Progress
Points.
This score measures time,
and time is of the essence in this
adventure. At various points you
will only be able to complete a set
number of tasks in a given time
period, each costing one progress
point. This will become clearer as
the game progresses. For now,
create a box on your
character sheet marked
Progress Points
and
leave it empty.
COM BAT SH EETS
All encounters in this adventure are managed
via the use of custom combat sheets, which
are found at the back of the Adventure
Booklet (but don’t look now!) They progress
you through a series of events that make up
each encounter, and which can take many
different paths.
You will need to roll dice, saving throws and
all other appropriate rolls for yourself AND
any enemies. Keep in mind that not every
encounter is what you would call ‘balanced’.
You will enter some dangerous places in the
course of this adventure, and if you blunder
into somewhere you shouldn’t be, you may
end up paying for it with your life! There are
several encounters which, if you find yourself
in them through foolishness or poor
judgment, will result in your almost certain
death. However, I have tried where
appropriate to provide opportunities for
escape and other solutions to combat
encounters other than just hacking away and
hoping for the best.
FLANKING
Unless otherwise stated, flanking rules are
used in every combat encounter. See the
Dungeon Master’s Guide
, p251, for rules on
flanking.
H OU SE RU LES
Death saves:
There are no death saves in this
adventure, unless there are two
or more PCs (see below), or an
NPC present. If you die, you will
simply have to roll up another PC
and try again!
M ax H P:
To balance out the above rule of
no death saves, and to account
for the fact that there is only one
of you, we’ve added the
additional rule that when you
level up, you take max HP
instead of rolling. This rule has
 
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