The Bone Shepherd
A dark, atmospheric introductory Dungeons & Dragons adventure — perfect for new DMs, new players, and anyone who wants more depth than the usual level-1 fare.
The village of Ashbarrow is dying. People vanish from their homes. Undead wander the fields at night. And atop the hill, the once-holy cathedral stands rotting, its lone cleric twisted by a presence older than the town itself. What begins as a simple contract to help a frightened farming village quickly reveals a deeper mystery—one that rewards curious, thoughtful parties as much as bold, combat-hungry ones.
The Bone Shepherd is a complete 20-page adventure designed to be run in one or two sessions, written intentionally to be friendly to brand-new Dungeon Masters and first-time players while still offering atmosphere, suspense, meaningful choices, and a cinematic finale.
Notes:
This is a short adventure designed to be friendly to new DMs as well as inexperienced players. It should take you one or two gaming sessions to complete, depending on how quickly your party moves and what they choose to do.
It’s a free resource from the Roll the Bones podcast crew, written by that game’s DM. If you find this useful, we hope you’ll try out the show. Regardless, you’re free to share this document at your leisure. In fact, we’d love it if you shared it.
A lot of people shy away from writing short adventures for level one players because in Dungeons and Dragons, level one players are very weak. Many of the beginner one-shots that are out there are also very simple—and there are good reasons for that. But this adventure attempts to give you enough content to have an interesting, challenging experience, while still being friendly enough to first-timers.
(You can email your feedback to to the author at hello@rollthebonespodcast.com and I’ll adjust the module for future editions.)
This adventure is a little dark. If that’s not your group’s vibe, you may want to try another adventure. It’s nothing extreme. If you’re the kind of people who enjoy an occasional horror movie or Castlevania game, you’ll probably enjoy this adventure.