The Delian Tomb

This dungeon, written by Matt Colville, is an incredible intro to D&D 5e for new
players - hopefully, with this document it can be for Pathfinder 2e as well.

Running the Module Goblin Patrol (Trivial 1)

The Delian Tomb is an adventure originally outlined 2 goblin warriors circle the tomb, returning to check
in Matt Colville's running the game videos. It's an in every four hours. If the players stake out the tomb
extremely simple dungeon, that fits neatly on 1 page, before going in, they will see them. If one of the
but it has inspired countless DMs and introduced goblins goes down, the other will run back to alert the
countless more players to the hobby. I myself have run rest of the tomb! Ambush! If the patrol has not yet
it 3 separate times, all to great success. The adventure been dealt with, it returns and joins the fight in Area 2
consists of 5 encounters: a goblin patrol, a pair of or Area 4 (making that a Severe fight)!
lookouts, an ordinary goblin fight, a goblin boss fight,
and an optional encounters with skeletons. There's a 1. Goblin Lookouts (Trivial 1)
trap and a riddle thrown in as well, for good measure, 2 goblin warriors stand guard. They cannot be snuck
and some fun treasure at the end. To be clear, this past, but they're sleepy enough to easy sneak up on if
document is a straight conversion, rather than its own, the players choose to do so. When they notice the
more fleshed out adventure (WIP). party, they will immediately run to alert the others. If
they join the goblins in Area 2, the Patrol will not.
Starting the adventure
It's perfectly fine to drop your players right in front of 2. Offering Room (Moderate or Severe 1)
the dungeon: "You've tracked the goblin raiders to 4 goblin warriors are resting, and (if unaware of the
their hideout, a tomb that sits atop a hill. Within lies a party) must spend their first two actions standing up
host of monsters and the girl they kidnapped to use in and grabbing their weapons. There are three minor
their fell ritual. If you hurry, she may still be alive." healing potions and 50 silver scattered around.
(from RtG 2) It's quick, easy, and effective! If you On the wall are derelict murals of the heroics of the
want this to be 1 session, this is the way to go. Delian Order, surrounding the words "I, Sextus
It can also be fun to flesh thing out more, though, and Varius, swear the Delian Oth. To serve law, battle
start the players in town: "Dusk falls, and several chaos, and strive to keep the Delian lore secret."
travelers come to the Green Dragon Inn for warmth,
food, and a place to rest. Several villagers are here,
3. Rusty Scythe Trap (Trivial 1)
eating, drinking, talking about their day - once day is There is a pressure plate in the corridor leading to the
much the same as another in the hamlet of Villane, main chamber that can be noticed, if any creature is
but, looking at you, something tells these villagers that using the seek action, with a DC 18 Perception check.
today will be different" Matt wrote up a document If anyone size medium or larger steps on it, it triggers
detailing the occupents of the Green Dragon Inn, the a rusty scythe blade!
menu, and how to transition into the adventure. He
also wrote up a bounty board for characters motivated
4. Boss Fight (Moderate or Severe 1)
by… enlightened self-interest. The goblin boss and 3 goblin warriors are in the
middle of the ritual unless they've been alerted to
Lots of folks have expanded on this basic set up - you danger, in which case they are set up in an ambush!
can find tons of fan-made maps, variants, and stories Their victim is dirty, crying, and trapped in a cage.
at r/mattcolville. I'm also working on a version of this When the fight turns against him, the boss will have
adventure where the players are members of the same the goblins focus fire 1 PC, and then hold a knife to
goblin tribe as the bad guys, and are trying to stop a their throat, saying "leave and I'll let them live".
war between the goblins and the local humans - when
it's done, I'll link it in this document! Being used in the ritual are an everburning torch, an
owlbear claw talisman, an onyx panther talisman, and
Encounters 50 silver worth of incense and herbs.
I'll be using the original map, reproduced on page 2, As written, unless joined by other goblins from Area
as a key for these encounters, but I highly recommend 2, this fight might feel anti-climactic for some groups -
using a larger map with less restrictive coridors. suggestions on making it harder are on page 3!
5. Secret Door 6. Hidden Crypt (Severe 1)
There is a statue of a knight on a pedestal in the back Inside are 7 sarcophogi, all open, with the bones of
of the room. Written on that pedetal is: "If you are to fallen warriors. The one in the biggest sarcophogus,
keep this, you must first give it to me." If the players Sextus Varius, wields a +1 Longsword, and wears a
either recite the Delian Oath from Area 3, or say necklace worth 60 silver that bears the symbol of the
something along the lines of "I give you my word", Delian Order. 4 of the others wear rings with that
the secret door swings open. symbol worth 10 silver. If the party touch any of this
gear, the skeletons (other than Sextus) come to life!
The secret door can be detected, if the players are
looking, with a DC 17 Perception check. It can be The skeletons do not come to life all at once, and they
opened with a DC 20 Thievery check, but on a failure use 2 of their 3 action on their first turn to stand up
the mechanism seems to close in further on itself, and and leave their coffins. 3 skeletons do so the first
further checks are against DC 25. After the 3rd round, and 3 the second, unless the players are in
failure, the door seals shut forever. rough shape in which just have the first 3.

map of The Delian Tomb

DM Advice Making It Your Own
This section includes advice for new DMs on running
Treasure
the adventure and making it your own!
Feel free to adjust ordinary treasure to fit your party!
Running the Module If you have a heavy-armor wearer, maybe there's a suit
of half plate instead of the everburning torch! If you
Describing the Dungeon think the players would prefer different talismans, give
Part of the job of the DM is to bring the world to life! them those instead, keeping in mind the treasure by
Use as many sensory details as you can - describe the level guidelines. I included 1/2 the recommended 1st
cool breeze while staking out the tomb, contrasted level treasure - if the party doesn't solve the riddle and
with the musty, confined insides. Maybe the party can find the sarcofogi, just add more to the next adventure
hear the shaman chanting as soon as they enter! How (if you keep playing from here).
are the goblins dressed? How clean are they? Describe
It could also be a lot of fun to have Sextus Varius'
the sounds of them shuffling about, so that the relative
longsword be more than a normal +1 weapon - maybe
silence of the skeletons is scarier. If you want more
it's a relic that grants celestial gifts and grows in
advice, here's a really good but long & rambly article,
power with the wielder! I made a sample version
and here's a more concise video.
called Timoria. Maybe it grants the divine retribution
Goblin Tactics ability, possibly only a certain number of times per
As Matt said in the second running the game video, day; maybe it glows when certain types of creature are
"The bad guys don't know that their job is to create nearby, or deals extra damage to them (either 1 extra
drama for the players, they think their job is to win". die, or just 1 if they have weaknesses). It also doesn't
Goblins are clever. They will attack the weakest- have to be a sword, it could be any weapon!
looking characters, not the strongest, and - when they
Adjusting Encounters
realize they are outmatched - they will run for help.
If you have more players, you can add 1 goblin per
They know they are strongest in numbers, and will try
player beyond 4 to Area 2 and Area 4, and you can
to exploit that as best they can. I intentionally skewed
either increase the pace that the skeletons in Area 6
the encounters easy so that, even if they succeed, the
wake up or let them use 1 action to attack on their
players can still win, and might even all survive, the
first turn. If you have 6 or more players, you can even
fights will just be a bit harder.
have Sextur Varius awaken as a skeleton champion,
The boss, specifically, is a coward, but a useful one. though I would still have the skeletons awaken slowly
He will cast bless as soon as possible, and will tend to and lose their first turns as this fight could get tough
increase the range while casting telekinetic projectile (especially if the party hasn't healed).
or soothe. If threatened directly, he will run & hide.
If you've only got 3 players, you can remove 1 goblin
Thinking Outside the Box from each of the above, and if you've got 2 you can
If your players come up with clever solutions, let them remove 2 from each and only have 1 lookout in Area
work! Try to think with your brain first, and with the 1. In either case, you likely don't want to use all 6
rules second, especially if you don't know the rules skeletons in Area 6 (at most 4, maybe less).
that well yet. If they use the tomb as cover to sneak up You can also adjust encounters for other reasons than
on the lookouts, or set fires in the tomb to flush the player number! Maybe you want an enemy other than
goblins out, or reset the scythe trap and lure the goblins, want the Boss to be stronger, or want to
goblins into it (remembering that they'd have to rearrange parts of the dungeon altogether. Do it! Just,
trigger it themselves, as goblins are too light), that's do it inentionally, keeping the encounter building rules
awesome! They're engaging with the world. in mind (they're actually useful in PF2).

Prepping Players If you want a bigger threat for the final battle (Severe,
specifically), you can either replace 1 goblin with a
First off, I highly recommend having your players use
goblin Commando, or replace 2 with a bugbear for an
pregenerated characters, rather than make their own.
even stronger boss! In either case, the Shaman is
You can download them for free from paizo.com.
probably a support character, rahter than the boss,
Character creation is complicated in Pathfinder,
and you probably don't want any goblins from Area 2
especially when you're new. Otherwise, make sure to
to flee to Area 4, or it might be too much. If they're
set expectations, and get them excited! You can do
feelin rough from previous fights though, leave it.
anything you want in D&D. The rules just help.