What it is
The Common Accord is a 35-page modular infernal-tavern mystery set in Writford, centered on an ordinary-looking roadside inn with a deeply abnormal guest ledger. The tavern itself is a warm, ordinary roadside inn run by a friendly innkeeper named Harlan. The guest ledger he asks travelers to sign is an infernal contract disguised as innkeeping procedure: anyone who signs, marks, or knowingly accepts lodging under it can become Recorded, a real tracked condition with its own saving throws and edge-case rulings. By morning, a party member is gone, and the staff calmly insist they checked out and left. Beneath the tavern, a tribunal run by the Order of the Red Writ, a respected roadwarden organization with a much darker true doctrine, is already processing the case.
All seven tavern staff are fully written NPCs with a public role and a secret one, a private motive, a moral compromise they've made, and a specific line they refuse to cross. The material can be run as an isolated tavern encounter or expanded into a campaign involving Magistrate Vhaless, the Order's boss, and its distant patron, a demon lord known as Bel, “The General.”
Best for
Game Masters who want an investigation and social-mystery encounter where talking, exposing contradictions, and legal argument are as viable as combat, with maps, tokens, and portraits included so it's ready for a VTT session. The included DM Dials let you tune legal severity, infernal presence, and combat pressure up or down, and a separate campaign-opener variant (recommended for levels 3–4) lets you run this as the first thread of a longer story instead of a one-off.
What the Game Master should know
This is built as a toolkit, not a fixed script: cut, reorder, or reweight any of it. Give the tavern time to feel like a real place before anything sinister happens; the guide includes specific, repeatable local color for exactly that. Suspicious or clever play should be rewarded with a weaker tribunal, not punished, and the guide has explicit rulings for the most likely ways players try to break the premise early (a false name, refusing to sign, sneaking into the cellar). Two aftermath paths are included depending on whether the tribunal falls or the Order survives.
FAQ
What level is this built for?
Levels 5–8 as a standard encounter, with a 3–4 campaign-opener variant included.
Is this combat-focused?
No. Legal argument, investigation, and exposing the tribunal are all viable resolutions alongside combat, with rules support for each.
What's included?
Maps, tokens, and NPC portraits, alongside the full guide, staff writeups, the Recorded condition rules, and stat blocks.
Can this start a campaign?
Yes. A campaign-opener variant is included, along with a suggested level ladder if you want to keep building toward Bel.
How do I get it?
It's an instant digital download through Etsy.