An Adventure Supporting Extra Life
A fallen clock tower holds components from an ancient artifact. Upon discovery of the components, competing agents look to launch expeditions to uncover additional components scattered across distant places—and times. The now-lost Temple of Moloch and the construction site of the legendary Tomb of Horrors are two of those locations. However great the risks, finding the components demands the effort, for whoever does so can reassemble the fabled Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad!
Adventure design by Bart Carroll
In support of Extra Life 2019, we’re pleased to present the following adventure scenario. Infernal Machine Rebuild can be run as a standalone adventure or connected to last year’s Lost Laboratory of Kwalish.
A fallen clock tower holds components from an ancient artifact. Upon discovery of the components, competing agents look to launch expeditions to uncover additional components scattered across distant places—and times. The now-lost Temple of Moloch and the construction site of the legendary Tomb of Horrors are two of those locations. However great the risks, finding the components demands the effort, for whoever does so can reassemble the fabled Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad!
This adventure is designed for five characters of 5th to 10th level.
A Note from the D&d Team
Starting in 2017, the D&D team has added several projects to the DMs Guild in support of Extra Life (including One Grung Above, The Lost Kenku, The Tortle Package, and last year’s Lost Laboratory of Kwalish). Funds raised from their sale went to this extremely worthy cause—and for 2019, you’ll find even more projects made available on the DMs Guild throughout the year.
As part of these efforts, it’s our privilege to contribute the following adventure to the cause. We hope you enjoy Infernal Machine Rebuild. And you have our sincere thanks for your support of Extra Life and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Background
Eons ago, a planar craft of unknown origin crashed within the Barrier Peaks. The scholar Kwalish would later find this craft, converting it into his laboratory and studying its technology to fuel his own experiments. However, Kwalish was not the first explorer to do so.
Earlier expeditions also chanced upon the crash site, and although most parties perished while delving through the craft, a few managed to recover rare objects never conceived by even the greatest minds of this world. Many of these objects were subsequently lost over time—and most resulted in the deaths of their owners along the way. But a few persisted, controlled by those able to glean some partial understanding of their operation.
Among the most important of these relics was the planar craft’s central command console, used to guide its flight through space and time. Legend of this object grew as it fell into the hands of a warlord and came to be known as a most powerful artifact: the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad (so named after its last owner). Yet with the defeat of Baron Lum, his Infernal Machine was said to have been destroyed as well.
Currently, the archdevils Zariel and Bel both have designs on rebuilding Lum’s infernal machine. Zariel is the present master of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. Bel is the deposed former master of that layer. But to rebuild the infernal machine, both devils require a number of missing components—former control buttons vital to the machine’s operation. Zariel and Bel have both planted agents in the world, tasking those agents with finding adventurers to track down and claim these components. Once the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad is complete, whichever devil controls it plans to use the machine to claim final dominion over Avernus.
Adventure Summary
While journeying through fey woods, the characters must choose whether to help a trio of (supposed) dryads or a unicorn, with each faction blaming the other for the woods' corruption. Either way, the characters come across a fallen clock tower containing a strange set of magical components, which appear to manipulate time within a localized area.
Discovery of these components leads to an invitation to meet one of two agents: Lynx Creatlach or Sir Ursas. Both are in competition with each another to collect all such missing components, in order to reassemble the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad. Each agent pledges to use the Infernal Machine against devilish forces plaguing the world—but each secretly plans to give it to their own patron archdevil. Both ask for the characters' help, looking to hire them to undertake expeditions to retrieve the missing components.
Once the characters are involved, they are provided the resources to travel to two legendary locations of the past to recover the Infernal Machine components believed to be there. First is the Tomb of Horrors, in the period while the infamous dungeon is still under construction. There, they meet the tomb’s architect, Moghadam, who oversees the site with an iron hand. The second location is the Temple of Moloch in the same era. The temple is run by Moghadam’s chief rival, Thessalar—the inventor of the thessalhydra and many other grotesque monsters, including the owlbear.
The characters must navigate the perils of both locations, manipulate time, and manage untrustworthy agents to return with as many of the missing components as they can. And even then, they must contend with the agents who hired them, and ensure that a completed Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad does not fall into the wrong hands!
Who’s Who
This adventure explores two locations of the distant past, and as such, features artifacts and figures from the deepest history of D&D.
The demilich Acererak and his tomb are familiar from 1978’s original Tomb of Horrors and 2017’s Tomb of Annihilation. But this adventure also features Tarnhem, Acererak’s balor father, and Moghadam, the tomb’s architect, both of whom first appeared in the era of 1998’s Return to the Tomb of Horrors.
The Temple of Moloch derives from the sample dungeon map appearing in the first edition Dungeon Masters Guide of 1979, and includes the famed statue of Moloch featured on the cover of the first edition Players Handbook from 1978. This version of the dungeon features Thessalar, a figure rumored to have created many of the game’s strange monsters—including the thessalhydra, which appeared in the first edition AD&D Monster Manual II and 2019’s Stranger Things Starter Set.
As for the centerpiece of the adventure, the artifact known as the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad first appeared as the Machine of Lum the Mad back in 1976, in original D&D’s Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry. But of course, you are free to modify or swap out any of these elements of D&D canon with artifacts and NPCs more relevant to more recent official storylines, or for better resonance with your own home campaign.
Running the Adventure
To run this adventure, you need the D&D fifth edition core rulebooks—the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Most of the monsters that appear in the adventure are from the Monster Manual, along with a number of creatures from other books (including Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes) plus a number of new creatures and NPCs. For easy reference, all the stat blocks for the creatures in the adventure can be found in appendix B. When a creature’s name appears in bold type, that’s a visual cue pointing you to its stat block in that appendix. Full information on creatures from the Monster Manual, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes can be found in those books.
Spells and equipment mentioned in the adventure are described in the Player’s Handbook. Magic items are described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Where new spells and magic items appear in the adventure, the text directs you to their descriptions in appendix C.
Text that appears in a box like this is meant to be read aloud or paraphrased for the players when their characters first arrive at a location or under specific circumstances, as described in the text.
Adventure Hooks
You can bring the characters into this adventure in any way that makes sense for your campaign. Make use of any of the following suggestions, or use them as inspiration.
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish
You can make use of this adventure in conjunction with 2018’s Extra Life adventure Lost Laboratory of Kwalish in one of two ways. If you want to use Infernal Machine Rebuild as a prelude to Lost Laboratory of Kwalish, the conclusion of this adventure can involve the characters learning that one of the functions of the Infernal Machine leads to Kwalish and his hidden laboratory, thought to be within the Barrier Peaks.
As a continuation of Lost Laboratory of Kwalish, you can use the legendary inventor as a replacement for this adventure’s agents, Lynx Creatlach and Sir Ursas. Kwalish has long researched legends about the missing components of the Infernal Machine scattered across the world. Reaching out to the characters, he tasks them with recovering the missing components, with Lynx Creatlach and Sir Ursas serving as rivals along the way. Kwalish can then send the characters out to investigate the manor of one or both agents, wanting to know how far along each agent is in their reconstruction of the Infernal Machine.
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
If you’re playing through or using events from Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus in your campaign, you might tie that campaign to this adventure in a number of ways.
To enter Candlekeep in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, the characters need a book or scroll that isn’t already in the library’s vast archives. The hags in chapter 1 of this adventure possess just such a scroll, which the characters hear about as rumors that lead them to the fey woods. Alternatively, once in Candlekeep, Sylvira Savikas or one of the monks might ask the characters to investigate the corruption of the fey woods as a side quest.
The hags of chapter 1 might also be in contact with Mad Maggie. Instead of working for either agent, the characters could be tasked with collecting the missing components for Mad Maggie’s outpost. And if the characters are already in Avernus, Lynx Creatlach and Sir Ursas might be operating more openly, and could task the characters with collecting the missing components directly for Bel or Zariel.
Dragon Heist or Dungeon of the Mad Mage
As a continuation of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Volo or Laeral Silverhand could ask the characters to investigate a corrupted fey wood located in the nearby mountains. Or one of the missing components might be found in the Vault of Dragons, with the various factions of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist replacing the agents in this adventure.
You might choose to place chapter 4’s Temple of Moloch somewhere in Halaster’s dungeon of Undermountain, whether as part of this adventure scenario or as part of a Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage campaign.
Chapter 1: The Unicorn and the Hags
Traveling through fey woods, the characters find themselves surrounded by dangerous, corrupted trees. “Rescued” by a trio of hags disguised as dryads, the characters might choose to help them rid the woods of a supposedly evil unicorn. Alternatively, they might meet the unicorn—actually a good creature under assault by the hags that needs their help to fight back. Either way, they encounter a fallen clock tower holding mysterious magical components that can alter the flow of time.
Chapter 2: An Invitation Extended
Two agents, Lynx Creatlach and Sir Ursas, compete to hire the characters onto an expedition. Both seek additional components to rebuild the fabled artifact, the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad—and are looking to history to find them. The characters choose which of two legendary locations in the ancient past to use as the starting point for their search for the components.
Chapter 3: Construction of Horrors
Traveling to the distant past, the characters explore a version of the Tomb of Horrors still under construction. To obtain the missing components, they must contend with the tomb’s architect, Moghadam, and disrupt the evil ceremony that keeps a powerful balor imprisoned.
Chapter 4: Temple of Moloch
The characters explore the ancient Temple of Moloch, also known as the laboratory of Thessalar, creator of numerous monsters. To obtain the components, they must contend with Thessalar, his lizardfolk guards, and the temple’s monstrous denizens.
Chapter 5: Final Showdown
The characters return to the present with any components recovered. The agent who receives the components installs them in their framework for the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad, while the other agent launches a raid to seize the machine. The characters are forced to determine who retains possession of this powerful artifact.