TEXT: 1
  
  2
  Introduction
  The Legend of Mr Bone-apart is an 
  adventure for 2-3 level 1 characters that 
  takes place in the village of Barovia. Refer 
  to Curse of Strahd for details on the village 
  of Barovia and its inhabitants.  
  Synopsis 
  The Widow Bonaparte has discovered that 
  someone keeps breaking into the tomb of 
  her husband. Each morning, she finds 
  the door to her small private mausoleum 
  open, though nothing has been taken. 
  She’s convinced that someone is breaking 
  in when she’s asleep, so she hires the 
  characters to investigate and keep an 
  eye on the tomb for her. Alas, when the 
  characters inspect the tomb, they find 
  no trace of forced entry. Staking out the 
  location at night, they discover the real 
  source of the problem – the skeleton is 
  alive! Each night it escapes from the tomb, 
  chasing its own skull. The characters must 
  capture the errant skeleton, and convince 
  it to return to the tomb (along with its 
  skull) – for good. 
  Running This Adventure
  This adventure is standalone, and 
  is designed for a group of 4 level one 
  characters. Characters of a higher level 
  are unlikely to find it to be a sufficient 
  challenge, particularly when they gain 
  access to second level spells and expertise.
  To begin this adventure, the character 
  must agree to solve a mystery for the 
  Widow Bonaparte, who lives alone in a 
  gloomy townhouse. 
  Characters who complete this adventure 
  should advance to 2nd level. 
  Designer: Oliver Clegg
  Interior Illustrators: Tallulah Cunningham
  Graphics, fonts and various assets licensed 
  through creative commons, Adobe Stock Ser-
  vices, Unity, Artstation, Creative Market and 
  others, individual licenses available on re-
  quest. “Mandrake” first appearing in Bearth-
  azar’s House of Familiars [2019]. 
  
  3
  Part One: The Widow Bonaparte
  The Widow Bonaparte is desperate to hire 
  some strangers to fix her rather unique 
  problem. 
  Her husband is dead and was buried some 
  years ago. As is tradition, the bones were 
  bleached and placed in a tomb in the back 
  garden. 
  Lately, the Widow Bonaparte keeps finding 
  the door to the tomb ajar. She can’t explain 
  it.
  Nothing is missing from inside the tomb 
  that she can see, though she will admit 
  that construction was hasty and it still has 
  a few holes in the walls. 
  The widow Bonaparte lives in a two-story 
  house, with enough space for two people to 
  live comfortably. She carries a small pouch 
  of gold in a locked drawer in her desk, and 
  she offers to pay the adventurers for their 
  time. She also guilts them with extravagant 
  displays of grief, with much gnashing of 
  teeth. 
  She directs them to the back garden when 
  they are ready to inspect the scene of the 
  crime(s).
  The town of Barovia is not a pleasant 
  place, a stony grey town of eerie quiet 
  and uncomfortable smells. You’ve been 
  hired by the Widow Bonaparte to solve 
  a mystery for her, and you are standing 
  in her spacious living room, which is 
  decorated in a gloomy fashion. She 
  seems fond of the colour maroon, in which 
  rather aggressively draped. “Oh, my poor 
  husband,” she wails. “He died so young. 
  Well, young for this town. The sanitation 
  alone takes about 5 years off the lifespan, 
  you understand.” 
  “Oh, it’s just so tragic,” the widow despairs, 
  billowing over to lounge seductively on 
  a pianoforte. “To be so alone in this big 
  house, and without a husband to care for 
  me. It’s almost too much to go on. But I 
  would be so grateful...” she pauses and 
  stares pointedly. “So incredibly grateful if 
  someone could solve this mystery for me.”
  “I had to cut some corners,” she sniffles. 
  “His funeral was so expensive. Yes, 
  perhaps the arrangement of exotic animals 
  was a little excessive, but I wanted only 
  the best for my Henry. His coffin is made 
  from pure Balinok marble, you know. Very 
  exclusive. ”
  “Of course, I can offer you compensation 
  for your trouble,” she says, fluttering her 
  eyelashes and resting her arm on the 
  mantelpiece where an ornate carriage 
  clock is stuck at 1 minute to midnight. 
  “My means are limited, being a widow of 
  no vocation, but I’m sure we can come to 
  some arrangement that pleases everyone.”
  The Widow Bonaparte
  
  4
         This is a cat. It is also an asshole. 
  INTELLIGENCE (INVESTIGATION) DC 10 
  This mausoleum isn’t finished properly. 
  There are holes in the roof, and at ground 
  level. 
  INTELLIGENCE (NATURE) DC 10 
  There are no animals in this garden. Are 
  they frightened of something?
  WISDOM (SURVIVAL) DC 10 
  There are faint footprints in this garden, but 
  they are thin and strange. They appear to 
  track all around the Mausoleum.
  Part Two: The Back Garden
  The back garden barely qualifies for the 
  term, and is difficult terrain for most 
  creatures. The door to the mausoleum is 
  open. Looking around the garden reveals 
  the following clues to characters that pass 
  the relevant ability checks.
   .
  The mausoleum is constructed of grey 
  stone, with a thick door, but the door itself 
  is incredibly light and easy to move.
  Inside the Mausoleum 
  Heading inside the mausoleum during 
  the day, the adventurers find themselves 
  confronted by the late Mr. Bonaparte’s cat, 
  Mr. Niblets. 
  Mr Niblets has the statistics of a cat, but 
  is a lawful evil fiend and likes tuna. It can 
  also speak common, in a meowing kind-
  of-a-fashion, which it uses to question the 
  interlopers. Mr Niblets didn’t care for the 
  Widow Bonaparte in life, and lives only 
  to obstruct her in death. If attacked, Mr 
  Niblets flees, yowling. 
  Inspection of the mausoleum can offer the 
  following information:
  The Bonapart back garden is an unsightly 
  affair drowning in weeds and drooping 
  ivy. Near the back door of the house, a 
  minature mausoleum perhaps large 
  enough for a single desultory coffin has 
  been clumsily erected.
  Walls of dry stone are engraved with 
  prayers for the dead. A stone tomb lies 
  in the center – oddly, the casket is open, 
  revealing the skeleton of the late Mr. 
  Bonaparte. Crouching on the tomb is a 
  rather wonky looking cat.
  This ugly specimen of feline recalcitrance 
  gives you a malevolent look before licking 
  its own unmentionables with demonic 
  fervour. It doesn’t seem to want to help.
  INTELLIGENCE (INVESTIGATION) DC 10 
  The door was opened from the inside
  INTELLIGENCE (THIEVES’ TOOLS) DC 15
  This lock was picked recently, by something 
  that wasn’t designed for it. 
  WISDOM (SURVIVAL) DC 10 
  There are no muddy footprints, which is 
  peculiar if someone broke in.
  
  5
  The Casket
  The tomb of Mr Boneapart is the salient 
  feature of the mausoleum. 
  Detect magic reveals a faint aura of 
  necromantic magic around the skull. 
  Continuing the Investigation
  Both Mr. Niblets and the Widow Bonaparte 
  will encourage the characters to stay and 
  stake out the night near the mausoleum, in 
  order to discover who or what is breaking 
  in (or out) of the tomb. 
  Part Three: The Stake Out
  The Skull
  On the stroke of midnight, the Skull of Mr. 
  Bonaparte makes a bid for freedom. 
  The skull rolls out through one of the holes 
  in the mausoleum walls, and begins to 
  zoom around the garden about 15 ft off the 
  ground, cackling quietly to itself. 
  The Skeleton
  About 6 seconds after the skull escapes the 
  tomb, the Skeleton of Mr. Bonaparte gets 
  up (headless), looks around confusedly, 
  and gingerly gets up out of the casket, 
  heading for the door. If unmolested, the 
  skeleton picks the lock to the mausoleum 
  with a bony finger and enter the garden. 
  There, it begins to impotently chase the 
  skull around in circles, getting whipped 
  and lashed by plants as the skull floats 
  gleefully above it. 
  SKULL OF MR. BONE-APART
  Small undead, neutral evil
  Armour Class 13 
  Hit Points 40 (9d4+18) 
  Speed 0ft., fly 40ft. (hover)
  STR
  DEX
  CON
  INT
  WIS
  CHA
  1 (-5)
  17 (+3)
  14 (+2)
  16 (+3)
  10 (+0)
  11 (+0)
  Skills Acrobatics +5, Perception +2
  Damage Resistances Necrotic, Piercing
  Damage Immunities Cold, Poison
  Condition Immunities Charmed, 
  Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Prone
  Senses passive perception 12
  Languages Common
  Avoidance. If the skull is subjected to 
  an effect that allows it to make a saving 
  throw to take only half damage, it instead 
  takes no damage if it succeeds on the 
  saving throw, and only half damage if it 
  fails.
  Flyby. The skull doesn’t provoke 
  opportunity attacks when it flies out of 
  an enemy’s reach.
  ACTIONS
  Boop. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 bludgeoning 
  damage.
  You wait in the dark for something 
  suspicious to happen. It is quiet here, 
  and the moon shines down from above, 
  illuminating the mausoleum in silver hues. 
  Then, suddenly, a clatter. 
  INTELLIGENCE (MEDICINE) DC 15 
  This skeleton has all kinds of scratch marks 
  over it. The head is very loose.
  WISDOM (MASON’S TOOLS) DC 15 
  There are holes in the walls of this 
  mausoleum near the floor
    This is a skull. 
  
  6
  Capturing the Skull
  The skull is floating a little above ground 
  level, and could be hard to reach. Some 
  characters might be tall or strong enough 
  to jump and grab it, and others might 
  have magic like jump to help them in 
  their efforts. Alternatively, knocking the 
  skull prone can put an end to its antics, 
  allowing a character to seize hold of it 
  with an opposed Strength (Athletics) 
  ability check opposed by the skull’s 
  Dexterity (Acrobatics). Sitting on the 
  skull is (perhaps) the most efficient way 
  to prevent it escaping. 
  Capturing the Skeleton
  The skeleton of Mr Boneapart rises, 
  clad in armour and still carrying his 
  family sword, to attempt to capture the 
  skull. Alas, as the skeleton is blind and 
  deaf without the skull, this proves a 
  challenging task. If un disturbed, the 
  skeleton rampages around the garden 
  chasing the whimsical skull. The skeleton 
  reacts with violence if it is assaulted, 
  laying about itself frantically with its 
  longsword. 
  If and when the characters manage to 
  subdue both the skeleton and the skull, 
  proceed to Part Four. 
  SKELETON OF MR. BONE-APART
  Medium undead, unaligned
  Armour Class 18 (plate armor) 
  Hit Points 13 (2d8+4) 
  Speed 30ft.
  STR
  DEX
  CON
  INT
  WIS
  CHA
  10 (+0)
  14 (+2)
  15 (+2)
  6 (-2)
  8 (-1)
  5 (-3)
  Damage Vulnerabilities Bludgeoning
  Damage Immunities Poison
  Condition Immunities Exhaustion,
  Poisoned
  Senses can’t see or hear, passive perception 4
  Languages understands common but can’t 
  speak
  Skull Sense. The Skeleton of Mr Bone-apart 
  can always sense the location of the Skull of 
  Mr Bone-apart relative to its own location
  ACTIONS
  Stabby Stab. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, 
  reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing 
  damage.
  PERILS OF THE BOTANICAL VARIETY
  The Bonaparte garden is a verdant disaster zone, 
  containing all kinds of means by which to bedevil and 
  confound parties who look like they might capture the 
  skull and skeleton too easily. 
  Petunias of Death. The garden is home to a variety 
  of violent and highly territorial petunias and other 
  garden flowers in decorative plant pots that advance on 
  the intruders with malice. These use the statistics of 
  awakened shrubs. 
  The Mandrake. A whimpering sound is perceptible in the 
  south-western corner of the garden. A blubbering plant pot 
  has been abandoned here. It has a small warning card on 
  it in elvish reading “Caution: Mandrake.”
  Razorvine. For some inexplicable reason, Lady Bonapart 
  enjoys growing Razorvine all over her garden. Razorvine 
  has AC 11, 25 hit points, and immunity to bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and psychic damage. When a creature comes 
  into direct contact with razorvine for the first time on a 
  turn, the creature must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity 
  saving throw or take 5 (1d10) slashing damage from the 
  razorvine’s bladelike thorns.
  
  7
  Part Four: 
  Putting Mr. Bonaparte to Bed
  Attaching the head back to Mr. Bonaparte 
  is no mean feat, as the treacherous brain-
  cradle flies off unless it is secured or held 
  in place. A successful DC10 Dexterity 
  (Medicine) ability check allows a character 
  to temporarily fix the skull on its neck the 
  right way around. Regardless, holding it 
  in the proper place on the skeleton’s neck 
  allows it to speak in a rasping voice. 
  In order to lay Mr. Bonaparte to Bed, the 
  adventurers must find a way to stop the 
  skull escaping. Mr. Bonaparte isn’t sure 
  why his skull is so keen to escape his 
  shoulders. 
   
  The skeleton looks plaintively at you, and 
  gestures for you to return its head. It 
  seems to want to say something. 
  “Oh thank goodness”, the skeleton says, 
  wheezing. “I can’t seem to help losing 
  my head these days. I’m afraid the habit 
  seems to have stuck post-mortem. Every 
  night my head flies off, and I have to 
  catch it. It’s very tiring – no-one told me 
  death would be this inconvenient, or I 
  wouldn’t have bothered.”
  A MATTER OF GRAVE 
  CONCERN
  There are a number of ways the 
  adventurers might seek to solve the 
  Bonapart dilemma. 
  ATTACHING THE SKULL.
  A character proficient in relevant tools 
  can attempt to secure the skull to 
  the skeleton with a successful DC15 
  Strength (Tools) check. Alternatively, 
  an adhesive can be concocted with 
  alchemists supplies using Intelligence, 
  or another creative way at your 
  discretion. In any of these cases, Mr 
  Bonaparate continues to rise each night, 
  but at least he is whole.
  CREMATION. 
  An impromptu cremation destroys 
  the bulk of the bones, and offends 
  Lady Bonapart beyond measure.Mr. 
  Boneapart rises as a specter the next 
  night, and is not amused. 
  SANCTIFYING THE TOMB.
   The tomb can be sanctified with a 
  ceremony spell or by anointing the tomb 
  with holy water. In this instance Mr 
  Bonapart no longer rises from the dead 
  each night. 
  CLOSING THE HOLES
  The tomb can be attended to with Mason’s 
  Tools over the course of 1 hour, which closes 
  all the gaps through which the skull (having 
  no arms to open the door) usually escapes. 
  With the lack of an exit, the nightly jaunts 
  of Mr. Bone-apart are constricted to inside 
  the mausoleum, and Lady Boneapart is 
  none the wiser unless she is informed. 
    This is a gravestone. It is thematic.
  
  8
  Epilogue: 
  The Widow Bones-together
  The widow’s reaction to the party’s 
  actions depends largely on the result 
  of their interaction with the skeleton. 
  If the characters harmed the skeleton 
  of her beloved husband and she finds 
  out, she descends into a frothing rage 
  and refuses to pay them, on account of 
  their “irresponsible behaviour”. If the 
  skeleton was returned to a relatively 
  peaceful sleep, and the tomb patched up 
  in the important places, then she waits 
  one more night (to see if the problem is 
  solved) before paying them as promised. 
  Mr Niblets hates everyone either way
  Maybe give them some experience or 
  something. IDK. Perhaps the Widow 
  Bonaparte allows them to keep a 
  Mandrake, or insists they take Mr 
  Niblets. Honestly, she really wants to 
  get rid of that cat. It’s a nuisance, and 
  definitely almost probably not a spy for 
  the evil vampire Strahd von Zarovich. 
  Lady Bonaparte wafts over to you, 
  dabbing a handkerchief to her eyes. 
  “Oh, I’ve been so dreadfully worried,” 
  she says, eyeing you all suspiciously. 
  “Have you solved the mystery for me?” 
  She continues to gaze at you like a 
  hawk, if a hawk were trussed up in a 
  corset and given a lemon to suck on.
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, 
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  the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without 
  the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. ©2018 
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  31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The 
  Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK
  MANDRAKE
  Tiny plant, neutral evil
  Armour Class 14 (natural armor) 
  Hit Points 10 (3d4+3) 
  Speed 5ft, 0ft whilst planted
  STR
  DEX
  CON
  INT
  WIS
  CHA
  12 (+1)
  1 (-5)
  16 (+3)
  8 (-1)
  8 (-1)
  8 (-1)
  Senses passive perception 9
  Languages understands draconic but can’t 
  speak
  Planted. A mandrake must remain planted in 
  soil, or perish in 1d4 rounds.
  Scream. A mandrake unwillingly uprooted lets 
  off a lethal scream. Every creature that can 
  hear it must succeed on a DC10 Charisma 
  saving throw or drop to 0 hit points. 
  A creature that succeeds on the saving throw 
  is immune to the Scream of all Mandrakes for 
  the next 24 hours.
  Powerful Sap. The mandrake can secrete a 
  potent sap which acts as a potion of healing. 
  This sap can be held indefinitely, but after 
  it has been collected once, the Mandrake 
  must be buried under fresh soil for three 
  consecutive days before it can be collected 
  again.
  ACTIONS
  Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 
  ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/The Legend of Mr Boneapart.pdf