Torntongue Tower
During the war, it became a place of horror and was given its current name. Spellcasters were put to death here in all manner of terrible ways... a small modular adventure location for any TTRPG
Concept
I created this module as part of a larger campaign and this location as a place that players would revisit over the course of the adventure. This module may be inserted into any TTRPG.
In my campaign, spellcasters were outlawed in the past, and this tower served as a piece of environmental storytelling about that time in the history of the world. The monster located in the tower dungeon was important to the story and had to be slain to get one of three keys to the final boss.
These were only secondary goals for the module, however, and part of the challenge of this project was generalizing such
details across any fantasy TTRPG world. I gave some light details about the narrative of the world in the module, but they serve more as a way to spark ideas in the GM who reads it and less as a requirement for the location.
Location Design
When designing this location, I ensured there was never any one way of completing a task or achieving a goal, but it is more of a place where interesting situations arise. In my time running TTRPGs, I found that it’s more fun for players to discover their own solutions to problems than guess whatever a GM has in mind.
To that end, I designed the tower with no particular order of events or rooms. Every room serves a unique purpose to increase the tower's appeal as a location to a variety of players.
There is an original riddle (that players can’t just google), undead creatures in coffins to fight and loot, an eccentric alchemist to talk to or recruit, and rooms oozing with environmental storytelling and tidbits of history to discover. Any one of these aspects can be ignored for a party who isn’t a fan of one aspect or another, and it may still be a satisfying experience.
Other NPCs
The Nuller is largely mysterious to the party but serves the important role of maintaining the fear inside the dungeon, where it's more difficult for the executioner to locate the party. Its behavior is passive, yet its physical description is enough to let any player know it's a dangerous encounter. It serves as an inverse to the executioner because unlike the executioner, the Nuller can detect players through smell, while the executioner detects through sight.
The Silenced is in a hidden part of the dungeon and is the only NPC who is initially favorable to the party. His primary purpose is to restore players who have had their tongues taken by the executioner. He can also deliver information about the rest of the tower and knows how alchemists created the Nuller. GMs can use the Silenced to set the players on the right track.
Running the Module
I have run this module many times during playtesting. In addition to several iterations made to the original design of the location, there are some things I found were good to keep in mind for players to have the best experience.
Though not explicitly stated, I intended the executioner to be killable along with all other NPCs. However, players have much more fun avoiding and tricking the executioner than killing him, so it should be made clear to the players he has very high health.
I found not giving any hints for the riddle because it’s optional for players and more rewarding if players figure it out entirely by themselves.
If players are struggling through the tower, the riddle integrity can remain unbroken if the Silenced emerges from the lab of his own accord.
Game Master Tips
Here are things that GMs can change to better fit their campaign without impacting the spirit of the module.
Change curses into blessings for high magic campaign (or randomly determine)
Specifics of Nuller combat aside from anti magic (though I would recommend still removing one or more of its primary senses)
Lore specifics around the history of the tower
For a more combat focused session:
Encounters from the coffins, add encounters in the cells, and/or dormitory
Alter treasure tables to better match players’ level, same for grunt encounters mentioned above
Change “it tastes coppery” to a health potion of desired level
© 2025 Langston Key
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contact at keylangs@msu.edu