D&D5e - Orcs of the Howling Bones.pdf

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Orcs of the
Howling Bones
Lairs and Labyrinths for
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition
Written by: John Adams
Using This Book
The information contained in this book can be used
as a standalone dungeon crawl adventure or insert-
ed into an existing campaign with ease. Included is
all of the information regarding the creatures that
have made the Howling Bones their home and the
traps and treasures they use to defend it. There is
also a brief entry regarding other orc tribes in the
area if you wish to expand the scope of your game
beyond just this dungeon.
This blessing makes the orcs a formidable foe, far
beyond the abilities of your typical orcish
warband.
The lair is riddled with a bevy of traps
meant to immobilize or incapacitate those who
would dare assault the beasts on their home
ground. The tribe’s bond with beasts has also al-
lowed them to dominate a pack of dire wolves that
they use to harry fleeing foes and overwhelm their
defenses.
Dungeon Overview
The Howling Bones are home to a particularly bru-
tal, but small, tribe of orcs called the Howling
Horde that worship a bestial wolf spirit. The orcs
are cunning hunters and have defended their terri-
tory from rival tribes for generations through a
combination of supernatural might, clever traps,
and shrewd tactics. They frequently raid other
tribes both as a means of testing their own mettle
and capturing the strongest members of other
tribes to fill their ranks.
The Horde has made their home within the
skull of some ancient titanic beast embedded with-
in a cliff surrounded by rocky bluffs. Recruits and
neophytes guard the entrance to the sacred cairn
while the tribe’s more dangerous members can be
found within the bloodstained caverns, behind in-
sidious traps and feral beasts.
Even before your PCs encounter the first
shapeshifter of the Howling Horde, you should try
and play up the bestial cunning of these orcs. Evi-
dence of recently devoured kills surrounded by a
mix of wolf and humanoid tracks, survivors of a
raid that offer chilling tales of the wolves that
stalked their caravan for days, or totems crafted
from assorted bones and etched with crude arcane
markings are examples of foreshadowing that could
be used to clue your players in that these orcs are
more than just the simple rabble that comprise a
typical raiding band. Likewise, if your players are
without any type of silver weapon, you may want
to add such an item early on in the dungeon or
they will likely have a very difficult experience.
The Approach
Rounding a massive stone butte, you can see be-
fore you the great skull of a titanic beast jutting
from the stone façade of a jagged cliff. The jaw of
the skull is open as if the beast had been frozen in
a defiant roar at the moment of its death. Flicker-
ing light burns in its empty eye sockets and the
metallic scent of blood wafts over you with the bit-
ing wind.
The Howling bones lies within the badlands of the
Cragfang Wastes. The area is so named for the clus-
ters of granite buttes that jut from the sandstone
permeating the region. The bones themselves pro-
trude from the base of a sandstone cliff that
Running the Dungeon
This dungeon is meant to challenge adventurers of
levels 6 through 8. If your group is composed of
PCs outside of those parameters or you are playing
with a larger, or smaller, group then some of the
challenges may have to be adjusted for a balanced
experience.
The orcs of the Howling Horde are blessed with ly-
canthropy. New recruits are offered this boon after
their first successful hunt or raid with “The Pack”.
stretches almost 300 feet high with a cluster of the
granite buttes obscuring the gargantuan skull.
A single well-worn path weaves through the
buttes marked by strange bone totems hung from
the nearby granite. The occasional howl can be
heard echoing from the buttes signaling either the
end, or beginning, of a hunt. The Howling Horde
rarely patrols beyond the buttes, but there is a
pack of wolves that has developed a fondness for
humanoid flesh that stalks the area which could
alert the Horde of interlopers with their eerie hunt-
ing calls.
A. The Jaws
A worn sandstone path leads into the bone jaws
of a massive beast’s skull. The ivory teeth of the
lower jaw surround a ring of six large standing
stones capped with the assorted bones of beasts.
Beyond the stones, a cave winds its way into the
cliffside. The musky scent of wild beasts mixed
with blood clings to the area.
ing the Wastes.
A simple tripwire trap is strung up between
the teeth of the lower jaw. The trip wire can be
noticed with a DC 12 Perception check. Once
spotted the trap can be easily avoided, or disa-
bled with a DC 12 Dexterity (Thieves Tools)
check.
A trap also protects the entrance to the cav-
erns, though this one is much more malicious.
The trigger is, once again, a hidden trip line. A
DC 13 Perception check is required to locate the
trap. Anyone passing through the entrance
must make a Reflex saving throw DC 13 as a
large spiked tree branch lashes out from the
eastern wall about 1 foot off the ground. The
trap deals (2d6) piercing damage and the victim
is knocked prone. A successful save halves the
damage and negates the prone effect.
Orc Berserkers
(4)
Orc Hunters (2)
Howling Horde Hunter
The jaws serve as a gathering place for would
be recruits as well as a sentry post guarding the
entrance to the tribe’s den. The tribe often
gathers in this area after a successful raid to
inspect their spoils and captives before bringing
them into the den to be devoured.
At the moment, 6 orc warriors await their
trial to become members of the Howling Horde.
They have not eaten in days, and are spoiling
for a fight to prove themselves to the Horde. A
single member of the Howling Horde surveys
the area while in the form of a wolf. Several of
the recruits have come with offerings to the
Horde to better their chances of being accepted.
While many of these offerings are skulls of van-
quished foes or shattered shields or armor, one
orc berserker has come with a
+1 greatsword
taken during a raid on an elven village border-
B. The Proving Pits
Passing through a curtain of stitched animal
skins, the tunnel opens into a much larger cav-
ern. Crude paintings cover the walls depicting
bestial hunts and bloody sacrifices. The floor of
the cavern bowls downward towards the center
of the chamber that contains a shallow puddle
of brackish water. A mound of skulls lies against
the western wall with the topmost skull facing
the entrance. Water drips sporadically from a
crack in the ceiling, echoing through the cham-
ber.
This chamber serves as a venue for the various
ritualized fights common to the Howling
Horde. New recruits that survive their first
hunt are pitted against each other in bare
knuckle fights to the death to ensure only the
strongest are allowed to join the Horde. Argu-
ments and disagreements between members of
the Horde are also settled here, though they are
generally not to the death unless both parties
desire those stakes.
A single elder orc oversees the fighting pit.
Truushk can typically be found in this area ei-
ther painting the latest tribal conquests upon
the walls or speaking with the skulls of those
orcs that have fallen in the pits of past glories.
The old orc’s mind is somewhat addled and his
senses are not as sharp as his younger kin, but
he is a fierce and brutal combatant that views
his position as pit master with spiritual rever-
ence. Anyone caught by Truushk upon entering
this room that is not an orc is immediately set
upon the elder warrior. Truushk views any in-
trusion by outsiders as a desecration of the
fighting pits that can only be cleansed with the
blood of the transgressors. As such he immedi-
ately shapeshifts into his hybrid wolf form
when engaged.
Truushk
Medium Humanoid
AC:
11 (in humanoid form) 12 (in wolf or hybrid
form)
HP:
67 (9d8+27)
Speed:
25 feet (35 feet in wolf form)
Str:
15
Dex:
12
Con:
16
Int:
9
Wis:
13
Cha:
10
Saving Throws:
Constitution +5, Wisdom +3
Skills:
Insight +3, Perception +3
Immunities:
Bludgeoning, piercing, and slash-
ing damage from nonmagical attacks not made
with silvered weapons
Senses:
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages:
Common, Orc
Challenge:
3 (700xp)
Aggressive:
As a bonus action, Truushk can
move up to his speed toward a hostile creature
that he can see.
Shapechanger:
As an action Truushk can pol-
ymorph into a wolf, wolf hybrid, or his human-
oid true form. His statistics (other than AC and
speed) are the same in every form.
Reaction
Brutal Retaliation:
When Truushk is struck by
a melee attack he may use his reaction to quick-
ly lash out with a vicious strike using one of his
melee attacks.
Actions
Multiattack (humanoid or hybrid form only):
Truushk makes two attacks with his greataxe
or one with his bite and one with his claws.
Greataxe:
Melee attack +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one
target (1d12+2) slashing damage
Bite (Wolf or Hybrid form only):
Melee attack
+4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target (1d8+2) pierc-
ing damage. If the target is a humanoid it must
make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be
cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.
Claws (Hybrid form only):
Melee attack +4 to
hit, reach 5ft., one target (2d4+2) slashing dam-
age.
C. The Bloody Larder
The stench of rotting meat and blood hangs
thick in the air of this chamber. Thick leather
mats are draped over four tables that rest
against the cavern walls. An amalgamation of
humanoid and beast carcasses are piled on top of
the tables in various states of decomposition.
The buzzing of countless flies fills the room.
A single dire wolf is currently feeding in this
room and may spot the PCs even if they choose
not to enter. The wolf has developed quite a
fondness for human flesh and will attack the
nearest human PC that it perceives.
This room is used to store the meat brought
in from the Horde’s hunts. Newer kills are
simply dropped on top of the older ones that

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