I’ve been busy lately and missed the past two weeks, but this week’s adventure has 3 full encounters and 5 quick and easy skill challenges, all wound together in a thrilling chase. Each encounter has a full map to cut out and use, and there is full flavor text for every scene, skill challenge, and chase contingency. Enjoy!

Unmasked is a short adventure for five 3rd to 5th-level players, taking place during a masquerade festival in a crowded city. The players will engage in a fast-paced chase through the city’s streets, facing a series of short skill challenges and quick encounters in an attempt to keep up with and apprehend a masked villain.

The city of Illodaunt has always been a strange town, shrouded in mystery. Founded centuries ago by an assortment of exiled magical folk and creatures, the city quickly exploded into a haven for exiled or displaced wizards, sorcerers, and unusual creatures. Nothing is quite what it seems when traveling through Illodaunt, and that’s how its residents like it.

The crooked streets and winding alleys reflect the features of such inhabitants; arcane-powered lamps float above the cobbled roads, buildings twist and turn as they move and change each day, and alleys seem to vanish as fast as new ones appear. Accompanying these oddities is an assortment of illustrious and mysterious merchants known as the bazaar; no magical item is too rare or expensive for them to offer.

But for all its wonders, the city is rarely visited by the curious folk that might most appreciate it. The majority of Illodaunt’s residents were ostracized or discriminated against by non-magical beings, and are quite unfriendly toward such visitors; those stubborn enough to ignore the warnings and enter the city have often been attacked, killed, or disappeared entirely.

However, once a year, Illodaunt opens its gates to the whole world, inviting both magic and non-magic folk into its streets for a week-long celebration known as A Thousand Masks. For one short week, everyone in the city is considered equal; both residents and visitors are given festive masks and together they revel in the streets with drink, dance, and—of course—magic.

During this time, the outsiders are permitted to buy and trade with the bazaar, a privilege that draws in all manner of interested parties. The bazaar, aware of this, saves many of its best items for the festival; its carts line the streets, offering a taste of magic to the eager buyers. One can find nearly anything among their wares, though—more often than not—they will wish they hadn’t.

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