The Tollhouse

This month the barrel started to smell wrong.

The Farrows will not discuss it, will not open it, and will feed you an excellent supper while not discussing it. In the morning it is emptied the way it always is, and whatever is in there goes wherever it goes. You need one handful, and you have one night.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE LOCK. It is that these people took you in. There is no villain here and no crime worth the word - what is in the barrel belongs to nobody, and asking has already failed. What the party does tonight is break into a house that is feeding them, and the adventure is honest about what that costs.

WHAT YOU GET - 35 pages, and nothing left for you to invent

- 5 scenes, every one written out in full: read-aloud text, what happens if they fail, what to do if they skip it

- 2 battle maps in three versions each - DM, player, and no grid, 70 px per 5-foot square

- 4 ready-to-play 1st-level characters. No session zero

- 11 secrets, tables and printable handouts

WRITTEN FOR A FIRST-TIME DM, AND FOR A TABLE THAT LIKES TALKING. The floor of the barrel room is the alarm: it drips brine, it is never dry, and everybody who lives here knows exactly which board is loud.

PART OF THE SALT ROAD. Sixty miles, sixteen stops, each a day apart. Every one of them has noticed the same thing and not one of them has said so out loud. This adventure stands completely alone - it needs nothing from any other - but a table that plays four of them starts comparing notes without being prompted.

THE FILES - four PDFs: A4 and US Letter, each in colour and in a printer-friendly build. The printer-friendly version is the same book in pure white, nothing removed. Plus 6 map images.

Compatible with Fifth Edition. Instant digital download - nothing is posted.

Made with AI assistance: the text and maps of this adventure were written and generated with AI, then edited, checked and laid out by hand.