The Shadow Beneath Stone | A Dark Fantasy D&D 5e One-Shot
Armies clash on the battlefield above; you descend into an ancient cult stronghold to uncover secrets that could decide the fate of an entire kingdom.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Friday - 10:00 PM UTC
Aug 21
Session Duration / 2–4 hours
0 / 5 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
An ancient dragon cult has returned after a thousand years. Deep beneath the forests of Althaea lies Vorthan-Khal, a forgotten stronghold abandoned since the Draconic Wars. Once a place of twisted rituals and draconic worship, its halls have remained silent for nearly a millennium. Until now. An army marches to reclaim it. Hand-picked by the Althaean military, your party is sent behind enemy lines before the coming battle begins. Your mission is simple: infiltrate the dungeon, uncover whatever the cult has rediscovered, and return before war erupts. But ancient ruins have a way of keeping their own secrets, and not every mystery is meant to stay buried. This one-shot is built around atmospheric exploration, tactical combat, environmental storytelling, and rewarding curiosity. Every room has a purpose. Every relic tells part of the dungeon's history. Many of its deadliest encounters aren't solved by brute force alone, but by paying attention to the clues hidden throughout the ruins. The deeper you venture, the more you'll piece together the truth behind an ancient civilization that vanished a thousand years ago—and the horrifying ritual threatening to awaken once more. Whether you're completely new to Dungeons & Dragons or have years of experience, my goal is to create a welcoming table where every player feels comfortable contributing. I love introducing new players to the hobby while giving experienced adventurers meaningful tactical decisions, cinematic encounters, and mysteries that reward investigation. While I generally follow the official rules, I believe the best sessions come from collaboration, memorable storytelling, and those unforgettable moments where your decisions genuinely shape the outcome of the adventure. If you enjoy dark fantasy, believable worlds inspired by history, exploration that rewards curiosity, and cinematic adventures where every discovery matters, I'd love to welcome you to my table.
Game style
Combat Heavy
Realm Building
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(6)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
2 games hosted
Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Sets the Mood, Storytelling
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Greetings adventurers! My name is Elaren, and I have been DMing for about 6 years, where I have fallen in love with creating unforgettable and immersive D&D experiences. For the past couple of years, I have been building my own world/setting named Myridia, where I have been designing adventurers for my players at my home sessions and consistently refining my craft as a Dungeon Master. And now I want to bring this world that I have put much love and care into to you. I personally believe that a session is not complete without amazing music, soundtracks, and ambience; since I am a musician, I believe that music is an integral part of how stories are told. Throughout my entire life, I have been obsessed with and have studied history, languages, and cultures. I love using these studies to enhance and heighten the realism in my games, providing an experience that feels realistic while also fantastical. Whether you're brand new to D&D or you've been playing for years, my goal is for every session to feel like you're stepping into a fantasy novel where you're the heroes traversing a world that feels like your own. I want my table to be a place where everyone feels welcome, gets their moments to shine, and leaves you excited for the next adventure. I promise I'll put my heart and soul into any and all adventures you may join. Huzzah!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Female/Male Image Variants of D&D 5e 2014 Level 8 Pregenerated Character Sheets will be provided to you before and/or at the beginning of the session for you to choose from. You're welcome to create your own character. I just ask that everyone follow the same guidelines so every player begins on equal footing. Character Creation Guidelines - Level: 8 - Rules: Official D&D 5e (2014 / 5.1 SRD) - Ability Scores: Standard Array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) or Point Buy - Starting Gold: None (equipment is provided) - Homebrew: None, unless we’ve discussed it beforehand. - Unearthed Arcana: Not permitted. Allowed Sources - Official D&D 5e (2014 / 5.1 SRD) - Other official WotC material may be considered on a case-by-case basis—just ask first. Starting Equipment Use your class/background equipment as normal. In addition, every character begins with: - 3 Healing Potions (Elaren’s custom version — contains 10 healing points that can be consumed incrementally) - 1 Uncommon Magic Item - 2 Common Magic Items If you’d like recommendations, I’m happy to help choose items that fit your character. Adventure Expectations This adventure emphasizes: - Tactical combat - Exploration - Investigation - Ancient ruins - Teamwork Characters who enjoy solving problems and working together tend to have the best experience. Character Tone You are part of an Elite Squad of adventurers that have been handpicked by the Althaean (Elven) Military for this mission. Please create someone who has a reason to work with the group and answer Althaea’s call to investigate Vorthan-Khal. This isn’t an evil campaign, and the adventure assumes the party is willing to cooperate. If you’re unsure about anything, feel free to send me your character sheet before the game, and I’ll happily take a look. Please send me your completed character at least 24 hours before the session so I can import it into Foundry and make sure everything is ready to go. Looking forward to seeing what you create! —Elaren
What to expect
Preparing for the session
The only thing(s) that you need to have prepared is/are: An account on Discord
What Elaren brings to the table
I will be doing my absolute best to provide an immensely immersive experience with voices, stellar music, ambience, sound effects, and reference photos for locations, NPCs, Monsters, etc. Amazing interactive maps that are always created by me, myself, and I (unless otherwise stated). I often get pretty gritty with my combat descriptions so that it feels as if you are really there hacking away at your enemies or scorching them to oblivion. Although I personally like playing in accordance with how the rules are written and love the opportunity for my players to use that to their advantage, what is much more important to me is the cinematic moments my players create and the amazing storytelling that goes along with it.
Homebrew rules
Drinking Potions is a bonus action. *Healing Potions* I have a rule that I am calling "Incremental Consumption" of healing potions. Instead of rolling 2d4+2 for a healing potion and getting a random number. You automatically have 10 points of healing. I allow for the healing potion to be consumed as you probably would use it if we had healing potions in real life. If you are down by 6 HP, you can use 6/10 HP from the bottle, leaving you with 4/10 HP left in the bottle to use later.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Elaren creates a safe table
I use a combination of Lines and Veils and the Red/Yellow/Green systems. Green: Topics/situations that are totally cool with being discussed at the table! Yellow: Topics/situations that can be mentioned or briefly discussed but not in great detail. Red: Topics/situations that should not be discussed or explored at all at the table. In case the Red/Yellow/Green system did not go over something you might be uncomfortable with, use: Lines: Topics/situations that should not be discussed or explored at all at the table. or Veils: Topics/situations that can be mentioned or briefly discussed but not in great detail. At the beginning of the session, I will provide a list of Red/Yellow/Green topics for you to fill out on Discord privately to me (to keep it anonymous). This is also where you would write your Lines and Veils directly to me. After everyone has filled them out, I will anonymously state the things that are not to be mentioned or can be briefly mentioned at the table so that the players are also aware not to mention them, but most importantly, not by whom, for your privacy
Content warnings
Safety tools used