Bonk Heist

Introduction ¶

This is a one-shot for three 5^th-level characters set in the world of Come Hell or Highwater, in an Underdark prison outpost for the criminals and those the Duergar wardens have enslaved set in the Mountains of Kord.

Summary ¶

The Underdark prison outpost of Mirith-dûm, far from civilisation, has long been home to hardened and dangerous criminals, and sometimes, wrongfully-prisoned but highly-prized captives destined to be slaves to their new Duergar masters. The characters' goal in this adventure is straightforward: escape the prison outpost of Mirith-dûm, with an eye toward escaping from the Underdark as well. However, this goal is complicated by the adventurers' lack of familiarity with their surroundings. Even if the prisoners can get away from the Duergar, where will they go and how will they survive?

The Adventure Begins ¶

The characters begin the adventure in the midst of rappelling into the slave pens of Mirith-dûm. Stripped of everything but their necessary gear, 1 × Potion of Greater Healing (4d4+4), and 1 × Potion of Healing (2d4+2), they'll have to understand and master their surroundings quickly left they become prisoners themselves before a heroic escape. They might find help from some prisoners, but many of them aren’t what they seem.

Whizzzz! It's a moonless night as you and your partners rappel down the old mine-shaft. You remember taking this mission: make contact with Bonk, a Half-Orc, retrieve the stolen spellbook, and make it out alive. You were born for missions like these; could do this in your sleep; couldn’t dream of an easier job, but the 1000-gold reward is, you suppose, good enough to pay close attention to th… pay close attention!—you suddenly realise that you're running out of rope, but just in time: it's only a ten-foot drop to the stone floor of the prison's processing block below, where you'll be ready to spring into action.

Clinging to the last of your rope, you're deep now in the gut of a Duergar prison! You wouldn’t wish this fate on a lesser individual, that's for sure, and you're sure to see plenty of lesser individuals in here. A hive of wretched scum and villainy—you've been told the kind of thugs and criminal masterminds that the dark dwarves keep here, so deep, won’t make the mission any easier, per se…

You know to be wary of the deep dwarven guards of this prison, and, in particular, its warden, a Hobgoblin who calls himself Lord Sarith of House Naledzir. Over the past several days, you've observed the comings and goings of the guard patrols up top, but you don’t know much about the goings-on inside.

Prison Outpost of Mirith-dûm ¶

1. Prisoner Cell

✓ Wrong Room. A successful DC 15 Perception (Wisdom) check tells the characters that something is amiss before they even drop down below: there should be a short wall that might allow them to climb back into the mine-shaft, but this room has no such short wall.

If the characters decide to climb back up and look for the correct entrance, remind them that they only have three hours to complete this mission, but they're welcome to each make five successive DC 10 Athletics (Strength) checks to climb back to the top.

As the hazy gloom around you comes into focus, you realise you're not alone, and—oh, of course the intel was bad—you've dropped into the main prisoner cell and there's definitely no climbing back up this mine-shaft.

Rocks and scattered debris litter the stone cell, four pillars support the ceiling and mine-shaft, and a stone door is leaking light into the room from the south-east. There are a few prisoners scattered around the dim room, and while most are lying down or resting, one prisoner in particular immediately comes to see what happened.

Monder. Monder is a young and finnicky halfling who tries to appear confident but comes across as nervous and unnerved by his surroundings. In prison for being a kleptomaniac, he's often caught stealing minutae from around the prison from whoever owns it.g around who avoids contact with everyone who approaches him.

Ceolbert. A frail, old human man who's lost his mind from being in the prison so many years. Can only manage to hold onto conversation for moments before losing concentration and going back to mumbling nonsense to himself. He will tell the characters, Take a breath of fresh air if you want to reach the bottom…. He also frequently mumbles about a giant, white city, gleaming with light, eclipsed.

Eldariel. A middle-aged, elven lady who looks lost and given up on life. She was imprisoned along with the rest of her village in an enslavement attack, but was separated from the rest of them when being processed into the prison, and can’t reason why with any of the guards, and has just about given up trying to find them, let alone escape her new life-long enslavement to the Duergar.

Bonk. Bonk is an enormous, hulking Half-Orc with comically-small glasses sitting deeply in his brow. While he has the exterior of a roughened warrior, he speaks in a French accent with great intelligence; although, he uses his intelligence for selfish purposes as the prison's loan shark and a bit of a shot-caller in the prison yard of this prison block. He will offer characters two items, 1 × Revolver of Revealing (2 Charges, Casts Color Spray) and 1 × Ring of Reduction (1 Charge, Casts Reduce on Touch Target), in exchange for a favour: he asks that the characters deal with the guard in the 4. Latrine who likes to torment and irritate his crew. He always leaves them with the following quote: Zo Bonk always wins…

Monder is the first prisoner to approach the characters, leaning on a withered, old staff, and he freely tells the party that the prisoners all knew that they'd be dropping in, mocking them for dropping into the wrong room. As he laughs at them, he drops the staff, alarming Ceolbert who comes quickly over to retrieve his staff, accusing Monder of being a thief, which he responds very casually to.

✓ Get out free. With a successful DC 5 Persuasion (Charisma) or DC 5 Intimidation (Charisma) check, the characters can convince Monder, who happens to own a set of keys to the cell, to let them out, which doesn’t bother him much, since he's convinced they'll be sticking around for a while longer like some other prisoners.

✓ Spy in the midst. With a DC 15 Persuasion (Charisma) check, the characters can convince Monder to reveal that there's a spy runnin

✓ Feeling lucky? Bonk offers to play a dice game: 1. Roll 2d66 2. Win if you get 7 or 12. 3. If you lose, you can double your bet and roll 1d6 and add it to your previous total to try to hit 7 or 12 again. Each bet is 1 × Health Potion, and the reward is a Time-Warped Coin, which can be used as a Reaction on a willing target/self within 30 ft. to grant Advantage.

2. The Yard

Prisoners mill about, wasting time, exercising, or are forced to work the bellows to the great forge on the western side of the room.

3. Processing Block

Prison guards move about and in here and move prisoners in and out of the yard and cells. On the north-east and south-east corners of the room are two enormous holes which act as vents for the great forge; as a result, it's very hot in this room an there are no guard rails of any kind preventing prisoners from falling in.

⚔︎ Encounter. 2 × Duergar (30 HP)

✓ North-West Door. This locked door requires a successful DC 25 Dexterity check to pick with thieves' tools or a successful DC 30 Strength check will break this door down. Alternatively, the key found in B. Hallway unlocks this door automatically.

4. Latrine

This small room holds a fountain and mouldy old well, as well as an invisible Duergar Xarrorn who will strike when all characters are in the room.

⚔︎ Encounter. 1 × Duergar Xarrorn (60 HP)

5. Security Booth

A hulking Tanarukk guards this booth and is immediately hostile to the characters' entrance.

⚔︎ Encounter. 1 × Tanarukk (50 HP)

✓ South-East Door. This locked door requires a successful DC 25 Dexterity check to pick with thieves' tools or a successful DC 30 Strength check will break this door down. If the character fails to pick the lock, they suffer 2d6+2 piercing damage as spikes strike from around the lock. Alternatively, the trigger found in the 7. Warden's Chamber unlocks this door automatically.

Once the characters have killed the Tanarukk, they're able to spot a plain and simple sign on the wall next to a switch. The switch opens the door in the south-west of the 6. Staff Chamber, and the sign depicts the process of intake, albeit in crude, Undercommon/Duergar fashion:

People enter the prison block at the door to 5. Security Booth from C. Hallway Escape. The guard at the Security Booth flips the switch next to them which unlocks the Warden's Office. This allows a guard or the Warden to enter 7. Warden's Chamber from 6. Staff Chamber, and from the behind the desk, flip another switch.

6. Staff Chamber

When the characters enter the room, they see Eldariel running into the hallway ahead, looking terrified. One minute later, a Duergar Mind Master emerges from the yard to the north, and when able, the Duergar Spy will strike.

⚔︎ Encounter. 1 × Duergar Mind Master, 1 × Duergar Spy

✓ Statue Trap. The Statue depicting the deity, Kord, spits purple flames in a circle around it (all eight squares) on-and-off in the pattern: 2 3 1. On for 2 rounds, Off for 3 rounds, On for 1 round, Off for 2 rounds, On for 3 rounds, Off for 1 round, repeat.

✓ South-West Door. This locked door requires a successful DC 25 Dexterity check to pick with thieves' tools or a successful DC 30 Strength check will break this door down. Alternatively, the trigger in 5. Security Booth unlocks this door automatically.

7. Warden's Chamber

The Warden is fast asleep and the opportunity is provided for the characters to retrieve the files from his desk. However, the characters must pass a DC 15 Perception (Wisdom) check or DC 15 Investigation (Intelligence) check to realise that they need to stand on both the pressure plates on the floor, otherwise a trigger is activated next to the Warden which immediately wakes him up. Sneaking past the Warden while he is asleep requires a successful DC 20 Stealth (Dexterity) check.

⚔︎ Encounter. 1 × Hobgoblin Captain

Once on the other side of the desk, the characters can also plainly see a switch, which opens the south-east door of 5. Security Booth.

A. Hallway

✓ Statue Trap. The Statue depicting the deity, Kord, spits purple flames forward on-and-off in the pattern: 2 3 1. On for 2 rounds, Off for 3 rounds, On for 1 round, Off for 2 rounds, On for 3 rounds, Off for 1 round, repeat.

This small hallway connects the 3. Processing Block and the 5. Security Booth.

B. Hallway

The disguised Duergar Spy from 6. Staff Chamber runs into here when the characters enter and re-emerges once combat has begun. The key found on the wall in unlocks the north-west door of the 3. Processing Block.

C. Hallway Escape

Once the characters manage to make it past the door and into this hallway, they've managed to escape to the main part of the prison where their next contact is awaiting them, completing the adventure!