And the d20 be Still as Bright
A Ray Bradbury tribute campaign for D&D 5e
By: Sophia_Forever
Introduction
And the d20 Be Still as Bright is based off the
classic Ray Bradbury story And the Moon Be
Still as Bright. Though not required, Bright is a
short story and it is suggested that you read it
beforehand to see where the author was trying to
go with the adventure. At times, monologues are
reprinted here to honor the great Mr.
Bradbury. These are optional for use.
Setting
The island is based off of Aogashima. 2mi North
to South, 1.6mi East to West in the shape of a
teardrop. See
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/01/the-
inhabited-volcanic-island-of.html for islands
geography. The island in universe has been
given the name Isla Nemus Baca (the name
Brad means a clearing in a forest or a glade,
glade is Nemus in latin and berry is Baca, the
island is Bradberry). It is a forest environment
with hills nearer to the center. Some of the
creatures that can attack the adventurers are
Shambling Mounds and Owlbears.
A Call for Adventure
The players will be at whatever bar they enjoy
frequenting and the barkeep will hand over a
parchment putting out a call for adventurers.
Treasure hunters are looking for escort to
possibly dangerous lands.
The treasure hunters are from Treasures of
Foreign Lands oddities shop. They have hired
Captain Wilder to ferry them to the island, Dr.
Spender as an archeologist to help them find and
identify artifacts, and the players in case
anything presents a danger. Choose a value
appropriate to your group to hire for them, I did
500g each.
Once underway, the players will have an
opportunity to get to know the crew. They are:
Captain Wilder - I imagine Wilder to be
Lawful Neutral. He follows the laws
mostly out of a desire to avoid the hassle of
being caught and is for the most part driven
by his interest in getting paid. That said,
murder doesnt sit well with him. When
trouble starts, he will side with the treasure
hunters. He is joined by his crew of five.
o When the players are on the ship, he
can be found in his cabin. Above deck,
his crew runs the ship. He doesnt have
a lot to say. Hes kind and offers the
players tea when they enter. He
describes his past of saving up to
eventually retire and buy his own
ship. Hes not much for adventure so
he mainly takes ferry jobs over
anything dangerous. He seeks now
only to live out his life on the high seas.
o When the players get to the island,
Wilder will occasionally join the
treasure hunters on the beach but will
spend most of his time on the boat.
Parkhill - Parkhill is the leader of the
treasure hunters and the most boisterous
and drunkard of them. He will go through
the city flinging rocks at the windows and it
will ultimately be his actions that drive
Spender insane. He is joined by his crew of
ten.
Spender - Spender is the archaeologist
hired by the treasure hunters to help them
search for treasure. He will become
 offended at Parkhills treatment of the ruins
and run off into the forest only returning to
attack the treasure hunters. He is alone.
o Parkhill and Spender will be below
deck looking through some
books. Parkhill says he believes that
the people on the island were the
mythical Mangal Grah (hindi for
Mars). Spender describes them as a
seafaring race that chose to not venture
out much. They only came to the
mainland to trade their art - paintings
and sculptures. Parkhills eyes are
alight that they tended to make
sculptures out of solid gold. Spender
speaks up that he only agreed to help if
the majority of the artifacts are left for
study. Yeah yeah, youll get to study
them. But I and my men get our cut
too. There is obvious tension between
the two.
Landing
It will be nighttime and cold when they
land. The crew begins to unload their supplies
and equipment - mostly digging
supplies. Spender gathers wood by himself
while the crew and sets up a fire. After
finishing unloading the supplies, the crew and
treasure hunters will begin to throw a
celebration. In the days we work, in the
nights we celebrate the finds! A large bonfire
will be built while Spender sits by his fire
alone and looking over a rusted and bent
device.
I found it just over there Its a Mangal
navigation device. Like a sextant or a
compass. But like nothing weve ever seen
Its pure elegance in its simplicity and more
accurate than anything Ive seen from that
era.
While hes admiring his find one of the
hunters approaches very drunk. ...s
this? he rips the device from Spenders hands
and looks it over.
No please! Its very fragile!
...s a pis of junk! He says and throws it into
the fire out of frustration.
NO! Spender grasps for the device but cant
catch it before it is consumed in flames. He
regains his composure a bit and just sighs and
says hell retire to his tent.
The party will eventually attract a flock of
Owlbears (MM 249). Place in as many as is
necessary for an easy - medium encounter.
The players may do what they wish the rest of
the night. There will be no planned events
during the night.
The City
In the morning, Parkhill and some of his hunters,
Captain Wilder, and Spender will go
out. Players have the option to go with them or
stay at the beach, but this is what they were hired
for
It doesnt take long to find an old overgrown
road and it doesnt take long to follow it to an
ancient city. While the city is in ruins, with
vines over the buildings and much of it
reclaimed by nature, its easy to make out the
artwork - large murals and gold statues. Most
beautifully are the stained-glass crystal fixtures
in almost every building. Nearly every window
is stained with artwork - sometimes abstract,
sometimes figurative. The windows are sealed
into the buildings and would be very difficult
to remove.
Parkhill will find a statue about a foot and a
half tall and four inches square at the base. It
is of a tall slender figure with the body of a
woman and the head of a doe. It is very heavy,
Parkhill can barely lift it.

Amazing! The Mangal were a polytheistic
race, this could be one of their gods! Spender
exclaims, obviously excited.
Yeah, whatever. Parkhill Rolls his eyes and
says Its a month of parties for my whole
crew. Biggs! Bring the cart. Were going to
be rich!
Wait, you might break it!
Look, you were promised a fifth of the
haul. Well gather everything then divvy it
up.
Spender, unable to stand the sight of the
hunters greed will go off on his own to
explore the city. Wilder will go with the
treasure hunters.
Players may choose to stay with the hunters,
follow Spender, or split the party to go with both.
Twenty minutes later, Parkhill will begin
throwing stones through the glass art. Spender
and the players will hear the shattering glass and
come running.
Whatre you doing?!? hell shout barely able
to control himself at the sight of the ancient art
being destroyed.
Calm down, theres plenty of it and we cant
take it anyway. Theyre all sealed into the
buildings. Im just having some fun. He
picks up another rock and breaks another
window. Woo! Thats a satisfying sound. acts embarrassed and humiliated the rest of the
Parkhill, show some respect. Wilder will
say.
Parkhill ignores him and picks up another
rock. Before Parkhill can throw it, Spender
walks up and punches him in the face. You can
see his eyes - they're the cold, emotionless
eyes of a man pushed beyond his breaking
point. Spender stands there, fist still clenched,
staring at Parkhill writhing, stunned, on the
ground. The two stare at each other for a
moment until Spender seems to realize what
he's done. Spender shakes his head and runs
into the forest, a look of surprise and dismay
on his face.
(-thanks to /u/C1awed from reddit for assisting
in writing the previous paragraph)
The players can choose to follow
Spender. Spender is good at moving without
being followed so they will be unable to track
him. Advice: You can have the players roll
Survival to preserve the magic if you like but
regardless of their roll they wont be able to
follow him. They can also roll insight to see if
Spender was being Mind Controlled. It should
be noted to the DM that he was not being mind
controlled.
Roll result:
5: Spender seemed angry.
10: Spender seemed very angry and surprised
after hitting Parkhill.
15: Spender seemed so angry he lost control
of his actions.
20+: Spender seemed so angry he lost control
of his actions and didnt know what he was
capable of. He was ashamed and ran into the
woods.
After the incident, the hunters continue looking
through the city but are more careful about
breaking things. Parkhill regains his senses and
day. While exploring the city the players will
come upon a shaft leading down into a basement
where there once was a ladder allowing easy
access but has since rotted away. The basement
is 20x40 and the hatch is at one corner of the
room. Rot has opened holes in the ceiling
allowing shafts of light to enter the room. The
ceiling is ten feet up. Passive Perception DC 10
to see if a creature falls in or not. Remember to
take falling damage (1d6 for every ten feet
fallen) if someone falls in.
There is a chest at the far end of the room. There
are Minotaur Skeletons (MM 273) hiding in the
room. This should be a medium to difficult
encounter. Roll stealth check with advantage for
them to see if the players notice (Stealth vs
Passive Perception).
Chest Loot:
Earring of Mockery
Large earring that connects at the top of the ear
(the helix) and to the lobe. This Earring connects
the user and the target psychically and giving
them the cantrip Vicious Mockery.
Hilt Dressing of the Mangal
Ancient gold leather that can be wrapped around
the hilt of a weapon with a handle (melee or
ranged). Weapon must have a hilt or handle to
wrap around. i.e.: No blowguns, darts, nets, etc.
When wrapped around the hilt, the dressing adds
1d4 to either hit or damage depending on how it
is wrapped. Can be changed, but takes ten
minutes to rewrap. Player chooses how they
would like to wrap it. Weapon now has the
magical trait.
Sovereign Glue
Five strips of glue. Each strip is 1x1. The
outside is an enchanted paper. Sandwiched
between two sheets of this paper is sovereign
glue. Sovereign glue permanently bonds to
whatever it touches, and anything bound together
with sovereign glue is magically glued together.
Spenders Return
Later you return to the camps and spend
several days helping to explore the ruins. A
half week later youre sitting around the camp
and the treasure hunters are getting
drunk. Again. Spender never returned from
the forest but you know him to be a capable
naturalist so are not terribly worried about his
physical safety.
An hour after dusk, Spender will return to the
camp.
Spender is carrying a knife but hes not being
open about it (Passive perception 13 to notice
it). Passive Insight check of 15 will lead players
to know something is odd about his behavior but
no more.
Try to follow the dialogue from The Moon Be
Still as Bright, give players a chance to reply
after each line break.
I've been finding out things. What would you
say if I said I'd found a Mangal prowling
around?"
Never mind. Let me ask you a question. How
would you feel if you were a Mangal and
people came to your land and started tearing it
up?"
Well, Ive found a Mangal. Up in a dead
temple. I didn't think I'd find him. I didn't
intend looking him up. I don't know what he
was doing there. I've been living in a little
structure for the last few days, learning how to
read the ancient books and looking at their old
art forms. And one day I saw this Mangal. He
stood there for a moment and then he was
gone. He didn't come back for another day. I
sat around, learning how to read the old
writing, and the Martian came back, each time
a little nearer, until on the day I learned how to
decipher the Mangal language--it's amazingly
simple and there are picture graphs to help
you--the Martian appeared before me and said,
'Give me your boots.' And I gave him my
boots and he said, 'Give me your uniform and
all the rest of your apparel.' And I gave him all
of that, and then he said, 'Give me your gun,'
and I gave him my gun. Then he said, 'Now
come along and watch what happens.' And the
 Martian walked down into camp and he's here
now."
At this point Spender will stab Biggs in the
temple. Biggs falls over dead with the blade still
in his skull. Seeing Biggs fall silently, Spender
will again look shocked. Just as he did after
punching Parkhill. He will look panicked and
make a beeline for the forest. It will only take
him ten seconds to reach the forest if they try to
stop him. If the players try to pursue, it will
require a Survival check of DC 25 with
disadvantage (because of night). If they are able
to follow him, skip to his encounter in the
library.
See Spenders stats if the players try to attack
him before he gets to the forest but remember
that it would take them several seconds to react
and to try to catch him. I gave my players each a
single round to try to do something.
If they cant catch him.
You return to the camp. Biggs is confirmed to be
dead.
Spender will make no more attacks on the camp
until the players confront him in the
library. Players will need to continue to search
the cities. Each day of eight hours of searching,
they have a chance of finding him. Have one
person roll d4, no modifiers. You find
d4
1: Nothing
2: Owlbear (MM 249) which will see them and
attack.
3: Shambling Mound (MM 270). Passive
Perception vs Shambling Mounds stealth to see
who notices first. If the players notice the
Mound, they can back off. If they dont, the
Mound can surprise the party.
4: The Library.
The Library
You stumble upon a large temple which backs
up to a cliff face. The roof is flush with the
summit above. The doors on the front are
open but you can tell they have been opened
and closed recently. You enter the temple and
your steps echo across the hall. Inside is a vast
number of books. The temple is three stories
high with a chamber in the center allowing you
to see up to the roof. A fallen chandelier lies
in rubble in the center. You can see Spender
on the third floor, his gaze buried in a book.
He is aware of the adventurers. He ignores them
for a moment. If they try to talk to them he will
hold up his finger to finish the line he was
on. Once done he will close the book and greet
them. If they try to attack with a noticeable
attack he will politely ask them to not. If they
get an attack off, it will be blocked by his Wall
of Force. If they start to try to sneak away, he
will say You arent even going to say hello?
Spender will greet them and will engage in light
banter before moving onto
monologuing. Players may interject at any time,
but line breaks indicate when Spender stops
talking.
Do you want to know why I did it? Because
I've seen that what these Mangal had was just
as good as anything we'll ever hope to have.
They stopped where we should have stopped a
hundred years ago. I've walked in their cities
and I know these people and I'd be glad to call
them my ancestors. They knew how to blend
art into their living. It's always been a thing
apart for us. Art was something you kept in the
crazy son's room upstairs. Art was something
you took in Sunday doses, mixed with religion,
perhaps. Well, these Mangals have art and
religion and everything. If the hunters get
back to port thatll mean Mangal is finished;
all this wonderful stuff gone. How would you
feel if a Mangal vomited stale liquor on the
[insert important religious temple name here]
floor?"

Since I know my players, I fully intend one of
them to try to convince him to give himself up
asking something along the lines of why he
killed them.
What could I do? Argue with you? It's simply
me against the whole crooked grinding greedy
setup at port. They'll be flopping their filthy
ships up here, fighting for bases to have wars.
Isn't it enough they've ruined one continent,
cant they leave one island alone? The simple-
minded windbags. When I got up here I felt I
was not only free of their so-called culture, I
felt I was free of their ethics and their customs.
I'm out of their frame of reference, I thought.
All I have to do is kill you all off and live my
own life."
I discovered I wasn't all new, all Martian,
after all. I couldn't throw away everything I
had learned in civilization so easily. But now
I'm feeling steady again. I'll kill you all off.
Thatll protect the island and the culture
here. They knew how to live with nature and
get along with nature. They didn't try too hard
to be all men and no animal. They knew how
to combine science and religion so the two
worked side by side, neither denying the other,
each enriching the other. And Id like to show
you how they did it. If you help me drive off
the treasure hunters - kill each and every one
of them - Ill share my knowledge with
you. Look around you. A lifetime of
learning. Philosophy, art, fiction, science we
havent even begun to understand.
He wont listen to reason. The players must
choose between killing him or killing the
hunters. If they side with the hunters, begin
Fight in the Library. If they side with Spender,
begin Battle at Park Hill.
Fight in the Library
Spender huffs, and says Fine. At the very
least Ive figured out a way for the Mangals to
defend their lands one last time. He casts
Mold Earth on the stone above the entryway
and brings it down, trapping the players
inside. He turns in a huff and walks out of
sight.
After walking away, the players begin to hear
groans from all around them. Zombies (MM
316) will start to attack. Put in as many as you
like for a medium difficulty encounter. After
two rounds, two zombies appear on the second-
floor balcony and jump down. Advice: Give
each zombie 1 HP but the standard AC. This
will allow you to throw lots of zombies at the
players without them being in too much danger.
From there, the players will have to fight their
way up to the roof. The entryway is floor
one. Floor two will have a skeleton (MM 272), a
ghast (MM 147), and a ghoul (MM 148). Floor
three will have a single mummy (MM
228). Once they get past floor three, the stairs
will lead to the roof. It opens and they can walk
from the roof to the summit. They will see
Spender standing at an altar 100 feet behind the
cliff face.
Spender is a Druid. Spenders special ability
allows him to force an area of either three
squares or hexes up or down ten feet (select a
cluster of three squares/hexes, may be in a line or
in a group but all must be touching). An adjacent
three squares/hexes next to his target is then
forced in the opposite direction. He may do this
once per turn as a bonus action. The sides of the
squares/hexes are somewhat difficult to climb
and require an athletics or acrobatics check of 10
to scale. Shifting of the Earth takes long enough
that an Athletics or Acrobatics check DC 15 will
allow a creature in a square/hex affected by the
spell to jump or dodge five feet in one direction.
On failed check, creature remains in the hex. To
increase the difficulty of the encounter, Dust and
Mud Mephits (MM 216) can be summoned.
Jeff Spender
Medium Human, Lawful Neutral
HP 190 STR 10 (+0) INT 12 (+1)
AC 12 DEX 10 (+0) WIS 20 (+5)
Speed 30 CON 17 (+3) CHA 14 (+2)
Prof Bonus: +3
Saving Throws: INT; WIS
Skills: Arcana; History; Religion; Survival
Languages: Draconic, Elvish, Common
Innate Spellcasting (WIS)
At will: Fire Bolt; Thorn Whip; Ray of Frost
4/day: Bane; Chromatic Orb
3/day: Gust of Wind
2/day: Call Lightning; Vampiric Touch
Quarterstaff: +3 to hit. 1d6 Bludgeoning
Mangal Shipyard
The temple is fairly close to a cove. After
defeating Spender, players will see an old
Mangal sailing ship. The players find it is
seaworthy yet run down. (See: Small Sailing
Ship (DMG 119))
From there, the players have the option to inform
the hunters of what has happened. Walking back
to the camp they pass through the original city
where they will run into Parkhill, Biggs, and the
rest. If they take the ship back, they will find
them on the beach. They will laugh and just take
it to mean the island is theirs to plunder. Parkhill
will shout to the ruins Hah. Crazy
bastard. Load up everything ya can find
gentlemen. We wont work another day in our
lives! After his declaration, hell start using a
hammer to break the windows. In the story,
Wilder punches him so if they players go to stop
him you can gage how much they want to do. If
they just want to release some frustration they
can do the punching but they cant attack any
stronger without aggravating Wilder.
Battle of Park Hill
If this option is chosen, Spender will not have an
undead army to attack the group. Further,
instead of using the character sheet for Spender,
he is now a Druid (MM 346). There are a total
of 26 people on the island and the boat. Spender
will be insistent that they must all be killed to
prevent word of the island from getting back to
the mainland. Players will need to find a way to
prevent the hunters from getting off the
island. Use a mixture of NPCs to represent the
majority of the hunters (PHB 342). This should
be a quantity over quality of monsters to
fight. The main ship will be anchored a half mile
off shore. There are three boats to ferry people
and cargo back and forth. Wilder and all his men
will be on the boat. The hunters will be strewn
throughout the camp. Once the players and
Spender reveal themselves, a number of hunters
will stay to hold them off while the rest flee for
the ships. Parkhill and several of his men will
take two boats while one boat is left on the beach
for the remaining hunters to use.
Parkhill came to the island with ten people.
Biggs is dead leaving nine. Three per boat with
three left on the beach to hold off the players.
By the time the players dispatch the hunters
remaining on the beach, the boats with the
remaining hunters will be on their way back to
the main ship. Pile in the last boat and chase
after them. Here, Spender has an ability to
manipulate the water so the boat can move
faster. You reach one of the boats which has
Biggs and a handful of hunters. Dispatch them,
and Spender will push the boat further and catch
up with Parkhill and his few. Use a Veteran
(MM 350) for Biggs.
Spender will then insist on attacking the main
boat. There are ten crew members and Captain
Wilder.
Have all ten crew members attack at once. Crew
members should be any humanoid of 1/4
CR. Depending on if they need help, Spender
can come help fight or remain on the boat. After
they have been defeated, Wilder will run below
deck. He will climb in a big clockwork mech
suit.
Captain Wilder in a Mech Suit
Large Mech Suit, Lawful Neutral
HP 160 STR 22 (+6) INT 12 (+1)
AC 15 DEX 8 (-1) WIS 10 (+0)
Speed 20 CON 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2)
Prof Bonus: +3
Languages: Dwarven, Elvish, Common,
Multiattack: Captain Wilder can make two slam
attacks
Slam: Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10
ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d8 + 6) bludgeoning
damage.
Steam (Recharge 5-6): Captain Wilder releases
built up steam in a 15-foot cone. Each creature
in that area must succeed on a DC 10 DEX
saving throw, taking 35 (10d6) on a failed save
or half as much on a successful save.
The ship is rundown or damaged (depending on
if the players sided with the hunters or Spender
respectively). It will be at 1hp and barely
holding together. While they can make it back to
port, it will cost gold to repair to full (20g and 1
day / 1hp; DMG 119). Encourage them to give it
a name. It is bad luck to sail on an unnamed
ship. Once repaired, it will be the players to do
what they wish with it. You may want to look up
sailing superstitions as a way to give flavor to the
ship. My players will be charged 5,000g for ship
repair.

Every time Captain Wilder uses his slam attack,

he has a chance of damaging the
ship. Regardless of if his attack beats the
players or ships AC, if his attack beats a
damage threshold of 13 he will do twice the
damage to the ship from within the hold. After
50 damage the ship will begin to take on water
and players will now be in shin-high water. The
entire field is now difficult terrain. After 100
damage, the water will be up to their hips. After
150 damage, the ship will begin to sink.

Small Sailing Ship

Speed: 1 mph with sails. Takes ten minutes to
reach full speed.
One person must be at the helm at all
times or the boat will stand still.
Max Occupancy: Six cabins. Can hold max 80
people uncomfortably in a pinch.
Cargo: Can carry 50 tons of cargo.
AC: 15; HP: 200; Damage Threshold: 15.
Each cabin is 10ft x 10ft. There is also a cargo
hold (25 x 20) and galley (forward room, 25 x
15).
Total dimensions: 65 x 25.