The Lost Opus of the Lich Bard
Are you brave enough to destroy the song that killed thousands...or just bold enough to loot their remains?
“So long as his song still lives, he cannot die…”
Though defeated, the power of the lich bard Scordatura still echoes through the Royal Opera House. Are you brave enough to destroy the song that still ties him there? What treasures lie among the hundreds consumed for his magnum opus? His devotees that survived remain in these halls, waiting for his return. What do they hide? Act now - and seek glory or riches, before the dark maestro returns in a deadly crescendo.
The Lost Opus of the Lich Bard is a 32-page OSR adventure module for use with Shadowdark RPG made for #ZineQuest!. It features maps of the now defunct Royal Opera House, the NPCs and factions that somehow inhabit such a foul place, and the dangers and treasures hoarded by the Maestro of Discord. This adventure is for levels 1 - 3.
Less than a decade ago, the famous composer Scordatura brought the most privileged in the kingdom together to experience his great musical and magical work. His performance consumed the audience and fueled a ritual that transformed the song into his phylactery. In the intervening years, the Royal Opera House became the foul lich’s lair, infused with haunting melodies as he fully embraced his unliving form. A mere week ago, powerful heroes confronted the cadaverous conductor and perished as they destroyed him in the same venue that his dark form was created. Despite this, many of his devotees survived and seek to protect that which they believe will allow his return: his terrible and powerful composition.
The adventure is inspired by those who pick-up when the heroes can carry on no further - or just pick-through what’s left. This is the first in a series of adventures that take place shortly after momentous events that probably took the lives of the adventurers completing it. Here, the previous party died destroying a lich - but not his phylactery. These modules are meant to allow your players to finish what was left hanging or just loot what they missed.
We are currently funded and now working toward two pre-planned stretch goals: another module and a town almanac!
Arbitrio Games has written and produced three previous projects, “Bad Decisions”, a GM-less horror RPG zine, “Mythiquipment”, a light narrative RPG romp poking fun at the grind for loot in MMO-style zones and “Black Bag”, a weird spy RPG, where “Mission: Impossible” meets “Everything, Everywhere All At Once”.
Our three bee operation has designed a number of other projects, including features in the ENnie nominated “Tragedies of Middle School” and twice in the ENnie Gold Award Winning Free RPG Day anthology “Level 1”. In 2024, we partnered with 9th Level Games to write “Pigeon’s Eleven”, a Polymorph Fun-Shot where you are the classiest bird criminals on the Vegas strip.
