Wizards of the Coast has made an adventure from the next D&D book free, and one small detail has huge implications for RPG characters everywhere. Prisoner 13, a fourth-level adventure from Keys From the Golden Vault, tasks your party with breaking into a high-security prison to reach the notorious inmate, Prisoner 13. When you meet the NPCs incarcerated here, you quickly realise that every DnD character you’ve ever played should be locked up in jail.
We came to this conclusion based on the adventure’s random prisoners table. The DM rolls a d6, and they’re given a random NPC to roleplay. It makes sense to meet a thieves’ guild member or an elf convicted of attempted murder. However, you may also encounter famous adventurers imprisoned for reckless endangerment, or a DnD Halfling jailed for using magic to influence others.
Realistically, this means every D&D character you’ve ever played (even those with good DnD alignments) breaks the law all the time. Ever accidentally caught an NPC in the combat crossfire? Jail. Destroyed a house when trying to save a village? Jail. Cast Charm Person, literally ever? It’s time for jail. We’re now imagining a team of Forgotten Realms lawyers who make major bank suing adventuring parties.
While there aren’t any lawyers in this adventure, there is a huge prison complex filled with arcane locks, suspicious guards, and an eccentric warden. The heist is a slightly sandbox-y DnD one-shot, where players must plot a way to bust into the prison, get what they came for, and get out again in one piece.
Keys From the Golden Vault is an anthology of one-off heist adventures releasing on February 21. You can find Prisoner 13 for free on D&DBeyond.
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Source: Wargamer
