Running This Adventure

GM Notes & Adventure Guidelines

Running the Adventure

Don't run the NPCs or cultists as mustache-twirling villains. The tragedy here hits much harder when the party realizes almost nobody in Thornwick or the Flock of the Open Grave is purely evil. Whether it is Brother Alms grieving his lost family, Captain Vane protecting his band of deserters, or Selene suffering inside her corrupted form, these people are drowning in grief, guilt, or oaths they're too terrified to break. Play up those tragic moments whenever you can—the real horror stems from heartbreak, not just teeth and claws.

Recurring Themes Across Acts 1 & 2

Living or dead, almost every major figure in this module is desperately clinging to something they need to let go. The echoes in Thornwick, Brother Alms's cult, and the Soul-Hunger itself are all manifestations of unprocessed loss. Furthermore, the corruption behind these planar rifts didn't spring from pure malice; it started with sheer, unchecked curiosity and desperate research into overcoming death. Finally, isolation breeds despair—long before the veil tore open, the villagers had already stopped trusting one another, leaving them vulnerable to predators like the Harrow Wayfarers and radicalizers like the cult.

Campaign Overview & Treasure Progression

Act & Target Level	Synopsis & Key Objectives	Expected Treasure
Act 1: Echoes of Thornwick Target Level 3	The party arrives in Thornwick as a mysterious planar rift tears through the village, causing spectral echoes of the recently deceased to torment the living. The heroes investigate the epicenter at the church crypt, deal with local survivors, and destroy or purify the first Threshold Seed before Thornwick is consumed.	~120 gp Total: +1 Weapon Potency runes, Potency Crystals, rank 1–2 divine/occult scrolls, and basic healing potions.
Act 2: The Ossuary of Forgotten Swords Target Level 4	With the Thornwick rift addressed, Sister Mirela guides the party to the northern ridge, where a second Threshold Seed actively consumes souls inside an ancient crusader mass grave. The party must travel the wilderness approach (W1–W5), solve the Seven Thresholds of the Soul puzzle in the Hall of Blades (Area O2), dismantle Brother Alms's cult in the subterranean shrine (Area O3), and confront or redeem the corrupted psychopomp Selene (Area O4) to secure the second seed.	~180 gp Total: +1 Striking Weapons, Crying Angel Pendants, Cloak of the Crusader (+1 resilient), Ghost Touch / Ghost Oil consumables, and rank 2–3 scrolls.

Encounter Difficulty & Party Scaling

Encounters are balanced for a standard party of four PCs. Quick-adjustments for different table sizes:

Table Size	Adjustment Guidance
5 Players (+20–30 XP Budget)	Add one additional creature from the encounter's threat pool (e.g., a Harrow Cutthroat in W1 or a Bone Scavenger in O1).
3 Players (-20–30 XP Budget)	Remove one minion/hazard entirely rather than trimming Hit Points. For solo boss fights (like the Iron Automaton in W4 or the Soul-Hunger in O4), trim total HP by 25% and reduce save DCs by 1 or 2.