The Crystals of Z''leth: Solo Adventures, #2
By Obvious Mimic, Daniel Howard and Kai Wloka
()
About this ebook
The Crystals of Z'leth is a solo adventure of exploration, discovery, and survival that works with Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition.
The jungle holds many secrets. It will do anything to keep them.
You are part of an expedition to the ancient city of Z'leth. Few who have found the city have ever returned. Those that did make it out alive talk of a lost civilization, ancient secrets, and crystals of great power.
But all may not be as it seems, and there are secrets beneath secrets. Solve puzzles, survive ancient defenses, and manage your limited resources to uncover the mystery of the crystals.
Pick your own path. Play your own 5e character. No DM, maps, or minis required.
We are making this for you if you want more of your favorite TTRPG and would rather play than DM yourself in the downtime between sessions. The Crystals of Z'leth is designed for characters between levels 1 to 4.
- Play your own 5e character. Made however you usually make one. The story is crafted so that all characters can succeed - or fail.
- Take your own path through an interactive story where your decisions have consequences.
- Fight monsters, cast spells, and find treasure within an original story.
- Make progress with loot and experience that you keep in a regular tabletop game.
Related to The Crystals of Z''leth
Titles in the series (1)
The Crystals of Z''leth: Solo Adventures, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Loaded Dice: Books 1-3: My Storytelling Guides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1975: Fantasy Adventure for Fifth Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Defend Your Lair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMYNT: Maybe Yes No Twist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLoaded Dice 4: My Storytelling Guides, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLewd Dungeon Adventures: Price of the Dragon: Lewd Dungeon Adventures, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLewd Dungeon Adventures: Fore the Play: Lewd Dungeon Adventures, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnFamiliar: Rise of the Tiny Beasts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAuroboros: Under the Sun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLimitless Heroics: Including Characters with Disabilities, Mental Illness, and Neurodivergence in Fifth Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLewd Dungeon Adventures: Disappearances in Riverhelm: An Adult Role-Playing Game for Couples: Lewd Dungeon Adventures, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons II:: Painscape Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLoaded Dice 5: My Storytelling Guides, #8 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrescendo of Violence: A Neon-Noir Roleplaying Game Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Read and Gain Advantage on All Wisdom Checks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5DestinyQuest: The Raiders of Dune Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Dragon Walks Into a Bar: An RPG Joke Book Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lewd Dungeon Adventures: The Halfbeards' Daughter: Lewd Dungeon Adventures, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLewd Dungeon Adventures: The Mage's Stolen Goods: Lewd Dungeon Adventures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Düngeonmeister Cookbook: 75 RPG-Inspired Recipes to Level Up Your Game Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInto the Dungeon: A Choose-Your-Own-Path Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aladdin's Tower: A Role-Playing Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLewd Dungeon Adventures: Give and Take Hideout: An Adult Role-Playing Game for Couples: Lewd Dungeon Adventures, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Guild's Design: Sister Seekers, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemorable Monsters: A 5th Edition Manual of Monsters and NPCs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArena of Sorcery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Witch, Death Mage: Sister Seekers, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Table Top Roleplaying For You
The Monsters Know What They're Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Book of Zelda: The Unofficial Guide to Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Dungeon: A Choose-Your-Own-Path Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The No-Prep Gamemaster: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Random Tables Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Live to Tell the Tale: Combat Tactics for Player Characters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dragon Walks Into a Bar: An RPG Joke Book Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5MOAR! Monsters Know What They're Doing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Random Tables: Quests Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide: Role-Play the Best Campaign Ever—No Matter the Game! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Steampunk User's Manual: An Illustrated Practical and Whimsical Guide to Creating Retro-futurist Dreams Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dark Souls : Beyond the Grave - Volume 1: Demons Souls - Dark Souls - Dark Souls II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dungeons and Dragons Cookbook: Feast of Champions: Feast of Champions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pojo's Unofficial Big Book of Pokemon Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book: 40 Fast, Easy, and Fun Tabletop Games Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legendary World of Zelda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rubik’s Cube: How To Solve The Famous Cube In 3 Easy Ways! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dungeons & Drawings: An Illustrated Compendium of Creatures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Crystals of Z''leth
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Crystals of Z''leth - Obvious Mimic
Credits
Author
Daniel Howard
Editor
Kai Wloka
Cover & Character Illustration
Thuan Nguyen
Illustration
Gabriel de Mello Faria Reis
Justine Cruz
Nguyen Hieu
Yen-Nhi Phan
Rusty Dela Cruz
Layout
Benard Owuondo
Proofreading & Play Testing
Alex Cawley
Copyright © 2024 by Obvious Media Inc., Toronto.
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (SRD 5.1
) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
We understand that digital piracy is a reality of the time and inevitable. Therefore, we are releasing this solo adventure without DRM knowing full well it’s going to travel.
We just want to remind all players that we do this for a living and this adventure and others like it supports a whole team of writers, artists, editors, and more. So if you truly can’t afford it, then we genuinely hope that you enjoy the experience.
But if you can, we’d appreciate your support on our website (www.obviousmimic.com) or via our Patreon page (www.patreon.com/obviousmimic).
Thank you and enjoy!
Contents
Credits
Dear Player
Obvious Mimic Solo Adventure Rules
Chapter 1: Introduction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
Chapter 2
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
Chapter 3
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
Chapter 4
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
Chapter 5
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
Chapter 6
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
Epilogue
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
The Quartermaster
Thank You to Our Credited Backers!
Additional Resources
Dear Player,
Thank you for picking up our second solo adventure. The Crystals of Z’leth has been another labor of love that resulted in our biggest gamebook so far.
The Crystals of Z’leth is a solo adventure designed to play as your own Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition character. It is an interactive story where you as the player make the choices that take your character through challenges with real consequences to the story.
This solo adventure was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2023 by more than 3500 backers from all over the world. We are eternally grateful for the support the community has given us and for the funding that provided us with the resources to create this for you. The Obvious Mimic team was able to spend more time, write more content, and create more art for this book and we hope it shows.
We had a blast making the book and we think you will enjoy this book as much as we did creating it.
Daniel Howard was the game designer and lead writer for The Crystals of Z’leth. Besides being a co-founder of Obvious Mimic, Daniel is also a forever DM and author/editor who has been publishing fiction and non-fiction for almost 30 years.
Kai Wloka is the producer and editor for The Crystals of Z’leth. As the other co-founder of Obvious Mimic, Kai brought his love of all things gaming to guide the story, build a fun experience, and get it out the door.
We thank you for joining us for the love of play.
Obvious Mimic
Solo Adventure Rules
Introduction
The solo adventure you are about to enjoy is an interactive narrative where you get to be the hero of the story. Through your character’s abilities and your choices as the player, you can make progress through the various challenges set before you.
This version is based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition. If you’re already familiar with the basic mechanics of this game system, most of the rules here in the following sections will be a review (though you may want to check out the What’s Different? section before moving on).
If you’re not familiar with the rules of Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition, then we suggest you review
them here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules
The Goal
Though the exact goal of each Obvious Mimic solo adventure will vary based on the story, your goal as the player will always be to reach the end of the adventure in one piece.
Know that there will be obstacles and hazards in your path that will challenge (or even kill) your character.
You will have to use your character’s abilities - and your own wits - to overcome them and reach the story’s end.
What You’ll Need
To play this solo adventure, you’ll need the following:
A 5e character of level 1 or 2
A set of dice
This book
Optional Encounter Materials
This solo adventure is designed to work on its own, but we understand advanced players may want to run encounters more like a traditional tabletop experience. So we also provide self-DM materials as an optional PDF. Again, this is not necessary to enjoy the solo adventure but it is an option for players to also enjoy.
You can get the self-DM content for free here: https://obviousmimic.com/pages/self-dm-packs
About You
You are the hero of this solo adventure. But who are you? We honestly don’t know.
That’s because Obvious Mimic solo adventures are written for you to play whatever character you want. There are no restrictions. That means you could play a new character just getting started, or you could use this adventure as a DM-approved downtime activity between sessions.
The story has been crafted in such a way that any character can succeed. Of course, some adventures will be easier or harder based on your character, but your choices as the player will help guide your character through their challenges.
The only real restriction we include is that our stories lean towards heroism. We don’t even run evil campaigns at our real-world tables. Your choices within the story will generally be of good and neutral alignments.
The Crystals of Z’leth has been written for Tier 1 (levels 1 to 4) characters to play. This means that certain parts will be challenging for a level 1 character but most will be very easy for a level 4 character.
How To Play
As you read, you will have to follow the prompts to progress through the story toward your goal. The adventure is broken down into numbered sections that have been randomized within chapters. On your journey, you’ll face choices like this:
To move forward, you would either flip to the section you’ve chosen (your only option if you’re reading the physical book) or click on the go to # link to jump straight to that section (available in the digital versions).
Rolling Dice in the Text
Many sections don’t give you the choice but instead require you to roll some kind of check (usually a skill check). It might look something like this:
In this case, your choice is based on the results of a skill check. So in the example above, you would roll a 20-sided die (d20) and then add your Athletics skill bonus as it appears on your character sheet. If the result is 10 or more, you pass and go to section 192 to find out the results of your success. If you roll less than 10, you fail and go to section 33 to find out the results of the failure.
Other situations may call on you to roll dice for random effects like saving throws against negative effects, being damaged by your environment, or randomizing certain events in the story. These will be prompted as needed.
Advantage and Disadvantage
Some effects apply Advantage or Disadvantage to your d20 dice rolls. In both, you roll the d20 two times.When you have Advantage, you choose the better result of the two. Conversely, Disadvantage forces you to choose the worse result of the two.
Combat Encounters
Like any good adventure, you can expect to engage in combat with monsters and villains.
When you start a combat encounter you follow these steps:
Read the block because some creatures will take special actions before attacking.
Roll Initiative for you and your opponent (d20 plus Initiative modifier) to determine turn order. Higher goes first.
Choose an action: attack or use an ability (class ability, spell, etc.).
If you’re attacking, roll attack rolls (d20 plus Attack Modifier) against AC. If the attack roll is equal to or higher than the defender’s AC, then the attacker hits.
Roll damage rolled on the dice given by the attack plus any damage modifiers. A creature’s attack damage is equal to their Hit. If a creature has a Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1), that means it deals 4 damage to the player character whenever their attack successfully hits. Alternatively, you may want to roll one d6 and add 1 for their attack instead of the usual 4, as seen in the example inside the brackets. That way, enemy attacks may be slightly different each turn.
Repeat until either you or your opponent are reduced to 0 hp and then go to the given section.
What’s Different?
There are a number of things that are going to be a little different. This game is meant to capture the fun of a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG), but it is still its own medium. Here are a few things that work differently.
Movement
If you’re working with some of our self-DM resources like maps, etc. then you can run combat encounters and explore environments like a traditional tabletop game.
However, the game has been designed in such a way that movement is assumed throughout both the story and combat to simplify the game experience.
Inspiration
Because there’s no DM to give personalized rewards for your actions, this adventure hands out Inspiration
when you’re on the right track. (In Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition, Inspiration is a single-use point that allows you to apply advantage to one d20 roll.)
Optional Rule: Since you are playing alone without the benefit of a party to support you in your adventure, you can help offset the challenge by saving multiple Inspiration for when you might need them.
Taking Actions outside the Story
This solo adventure is a static work and it cannot truly replace the imaginative creativity of a group session run by a Game Master. So how do you resolve actions off the page?
Some examples - like buffs or debuffs and healing - are easy to resolve. Apply the bonus or the effect to events in the story. For example, you could cast the cantrip guidance before a skill check to increase your chance of passing that check. Or drink a healing potion whenever it makes sense to recover hit points for your character.
But what about open-ended spells like illusions or enchantments? How do these resolve in the story?
And the answer is that it’s up to you. Based on the open-ended effect you’ve applied, you can determine for yourself how it affects the story and your options.
So here are a few examples of what this could mean:
Applying the charmed effect might let you automatically pass all skill checks when interacting with another character.
Casting a distracting illusion on an opponent might mean they take no action for one turn.
A special movement action in combat - like flying or teleporting - gives you an extra turn.
Long-term effects (e.g. barkskin lasting 1 hour) last as long as you think is reasonable given the events of the story.
For more ideas or guidance, you can join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/cSv4q6PmdB
After The Adventure
Over the course of this adventure, your character will receive various rewards in terms of treasure, items, and experience. These rewards are designed in such a way that you can then take them on to another solo adventure or even join a tabletop session if your DM allows.
Your character’s adventure doesn’t have to end here, but instead treat this solo adventure as just one part of your epic journey.
Whichever direction you take when you’re done, your character can keep whatever levels and treasure you’ve found along the way.
For the Dungeon Masters
We have created an info pack for DMs who haven’t read The Crystals of Z’leth to integrate its results into their campaign. You can find all this content here: www.obviousmimic.com/pages/solo-adventure-references-for-dms
This includes a summary of the events of the story, the rewards a player character might have received, and some ideas on how to use this story as part of your campaign with adventure hooks, lore, and recurring NPCs. The DM reference guide carries strong spoiler warnings.
Chapter 1:
Introduction
It’s been most of a day’s travel since the jungle rose up around you in a twist of green and brown filled with the sounds of strange beasts. The tangle of trees and vines acts like a living canyon on either side of the rough track that counts as a road. What little you can see of the sky overhead is a flat white overcast, a gentle promise of rain today.
The humid air is heavy with the smell of flowers and fruit, and the hum of insects hangs just on the edge of your hearing. The heat is nearly overwhelming and you are running low on water, but your contact assured you that your destination wasn’t far. It’s a relief knowing you’ll not have to spend the night alone and in the open out here. As you force yourself through the air that seems to thicken with every step, you confirm once more that you have the map you’ve been hired to deliver, and that leads to the expedition you will join when you arrive. According to your contract, it’s primarily a rescue mission following another team into the jungle. However, the understanding is that your group will also pick up where the last one failed in its search for a supposedly lost city of a powerful ancient civilization.
With a healthy advance and an equal share of the treasure, all this discomfort may just be worth it in the end.
Add 75 gp to your inventory.
An especially loud trill calls out from somewhere among the trees and vines. You stop a moment and look for its source, but it’s hopeless in all the dense, dark plant growth to either side. It’s hard to even tell what direction it came from. Then you round a bend and see a collection of wagons. You’ve reached the expedition camp at last, but it seems that things may already be getting complicated (go to 74).
1
You successfully grab hold of the lizardfolk who broke ranks to come up behind Rija and Gigar. He struggles for a moment with a snarl and his claws reach back for your eyes, but they stop just before they make contact.
Then he relaxes with a rumbling groan in the back of his throat. You realize that everyone is staring at you and Rija is stunned with her mouth agape. Gigar doesn’t know what to do with himself, but Rija looks up to the chieftain who nods his head, clearly smiling.
I appreciate the thought,
she says. But you can let him go. Now.
Seeing no other option, you comply (go to 36).
2
Almost as soon as the water hits your tongue, you are brought to your knees with a dizzying, feverish weakness. You double over on the soggy ground next to the stream and vomit up everything you’ve eaten in what seems like the last week.
With blurry eyes and buzzing ears, you drop to your side and shake violently for what feels like a very long time. Eventually, several pairs of hands help you get upright.
Here, here,
says a high-pitched voice. Your eyes flutter open to a female gnome holding a tin cup to your lips. You drink a gulp of clean water from the cup. You gonna make it?
Your body nearly rejects the water, but you manage to just barely hold it down. You sit up to find two of the wagon drivers holding you up.
With a nod, you tell them you’ll live but feel terrible.
You are poisoned (even if you are normally immune to the poisoned condition) until your next long rest. After your long rest, roll a Constitution saving throw against DC 12. If you pass, you recover, but if you fail you are still poisoned until your following long rest, when you can roll to save again. Repeat the process until you recover.
The burly expedition wagon drivers help you up and back to camp.
Yeah, you’ll be fine,
one of them says. C’mon. You won’t be doing that again, I bet. Let’s get you some clean water.
By the time you reach camp, you’re no longer being held up but still feel brutally sick. But at least there’s water in the barrels (go to 45).
3
Gain Inspiration.
You approach Rija who has set out a bedroll on the ground like the rest of the crew. She’s kneeling beside it organizing a collection of odd-looking items. She appears to be cataloging them and re-packing them, moving with well-practiced precision.
Notable in the grid are two large glossy black crystals, a coiled rope of unusual quality, an impressive climbing axe, three stoppered vials, and at least a dozen small blue crystals faintly glowing against the fabric beneath them.
As you approach, she looks up and meets your eye as she immediately starts to collect her gear. Looking for something?
Roll an Intelligence (Arcana) check. If you get 15 or more, (go to 34). If you get less than 15, (go to 57).
4
The scaly form that drops out of the canopy above narrowly misses you, but it doesn’t stop there. A pair of snake heads dart out from the quickly-uncoiling mass. They hiss and snap at you with rows of sharp teeth.
You dance back just out of reach and ready yourself for a fight (go to 66).
5
You draw your weapon, drawing the attention of not just the lizardfolk but members of the expedition. The bookish orc’s eyes widen behind the lenses of his spectacles. The woman beside him heaves a weary sigh, pinches the bridge of her nose, and shakes her head in exasperation.
Well, this is erm…
the orc stammers. This person is our—
And he looks at you with open arms and a shrug. This overcooked noodle of an orc isn’t scaring anyone, but you might be able to shake the lizardfolk’s resolve.
Roll a Charisma