The Forge of Fury
Running the Forge of Fury
This dungeon can be dropped into any mountainside in your home brew world and that is exactly what I did!
I would recommend that this should be run for a group of four or five players at third or fourth level. The enemies are varied and depending on stealth checks have the ability to swarm your players if they are given half a chance. My group took roughly four sessions to run through the whole thing and loot everything so in total they spent about twenty hours to complete it. For pacing and thematic reasons I would suggest trying to run this as the Mountain door level for one session, then the Glitterhame and Sinkhole levels, then the Foundry level and finally the Black Lake and clean up for the last session. Don’t try and force it if you can’t pull this off but it does mean that you can prepare each level at a time and it’s not too taxing on brain space!
The history on the dungeon complex is a Dwarven Fortress that was overrun by Orcs. The ‘civilised’ areas are all of Dwarvish design and tells the story of the heroic last stand of Durgeddin and his clan falling back from wave upon wave of Orcs through their home. The through line of the dungeon is told through the echoes of the fights that happened in the past, how the once beautiful Dwarven architecture now has Orcish graffiti on it and fallen from it’s former glory. The consequences of some of the Dwarves’ actions have a bearing on the party as there are defences still in place and restless dead that still haunt the Forge. Around the Fortress is a series of caves created by the mining activities needed for the forge, over time they have become the home of several different types of underground dwelling creatures. There are natural entrances and exits created by an underground stream that winds it’s way through the mine area into the forge to cool it and then down deep underground to form The Black Lake. I used the water as a key descriptive tool when running this encounter as the stream gets larger and faster towards the lake. I used it to effect stealth and perception rolls of the enemies and the party to make it feel more real, you can’t hear someone creep up on you when your ears are filled with the sound of a waterfall! The water spray also provides one area with a potentially funny outcome and the angled stone was covered in spray and the resulting moss and slime build up, one of my players fell into the water and was nearly swept away!
The first two levels are designed to be steam rollered and make the PCs feel strong and accomplished by placing low level/ low hit pointed foes in their way. The second level does throw some slightly harder tasks in front of the players in terms of stealth and or volume of enemies but again it makes everyone feel strong, however, area of attack spells feel particularly good and will put a smile on the faces of your casters. The Foundry level is designed to wear down the players’ resources in preparation for the Black Lake level. The final boss is a Young Black Dragon in it’s lair so really have fun with her and challenge your players.
There are somethings that you may want to edit when running this adventure at your table. There’s a lot of interesting exposition and lore in this dungeon but only if someone reads Dwarvish so you can edit this or leave the party in the dark. You could even use it as a device to set up the next part of the story you are telling as the PCs will have to get the papers translated. There are some social parts inside the Glitterhame and Foundry levels which can help or hinder your players depending on how they role or if the NPC wants to deceive the party.
As this is based around a forge being found the items found in here are very good for the martial classes especially in the final hoard as it contains a magical +2 Greataxe, there are also +1 swords and a +1 shield dotted around. You may want to lay out all of the loot from the dungeon in front of you and just check to see if you are favouring one character in particular or making that player an absolutely unstoppable unit!
This is another adventure that has exactly what your players have asked for: an accurate title, a dungeon and a dragon!
Here is a bunch of useful things you can use to run The Forge of Fury.
Maps
Minis
5x Orc
2x Prisoner
1x Orc Shaman
2x Female Orc
6x Stirge
1x Ogre
2x Direwolf
1x Orog
11x Troglodites
1x Chief Troglodite
1x Giant Lizard
1x Brown Bear
2x Grick
1x Grey Ooze
1x Roper
3x Duergar
1x Duergar Spy
1x Animated Table
1x Wight
2x Ogre Skeleton
1x Dwarf Ghost
6x Skeletons
1x Rug of Smothering
1x Animated Armour
1x Succubus
1x Human Woman
1x Young Black Dragon
The DM Workshop has all the files for The Forge of Fury minis if you are 3D printing them.
Scenery
1x Cage
10x Bed
Lots of Crates and Barrels
5x Table
2x Fire Pit
23x Sarcophagus
4x Pew
1x Tomb
5x Furnace
1x Large Rug (Becomes animated)
6x Bookshelves
8x Empty weapon racks
1x Circular Pool
1x Throne
10x Pillar
4x Treasure Pile
Item Cards
7x Item Cards
14x potions
6x Spell Scrolls
If you've found any other resources link to them in the comments section below.
