The Bruja, The Beast, and The Barrow: A One-Shot That Keeps Giving
Most one-shot modules are set and forget. You run them, have fun, move on. This one’s different. The Bruja, The Beast, and The Barrow by Gásel gives you fodder for your entire campaign in just a few pages.
The Writing
I’ll be honest - the first paragraph made me nervous. Words I had to look up. “Dry cyclopian stone marks the barrow’s outline…” Felt like extra words that didn’t need to be there.
Then I got to the smell description: stinking of old blood and sour wine.
That’s what Gásel does. Little words that paint pictures. His modules aren’t mechanical lists of rooms - they come alive.
What You’re Getting Into
Your players are here to find Marble-Eye, a sorcerer who specialises in curing curses (or causing them, for the right price). He wants 5,000 gold or a favour.
The favour? Bring him two hogs. Take one down to the altar in the barrow below.
Players will bite. I would.
The Setup
Marble-Eye’s abode tells you everything you need to know:
Ancient boulders form a low heart, shabby roofed with untanned skins. Mostly from frontier hogs but a few of those appear to be men.
He views some people as nothing more than roofing material. Don’t mess with this guy.
His backstory: angered the Warlock King, fled, but the King sent Rolling Calf after him. Marble-Eye trapped the assassin in the barrow below. The wards need topping up with blood and sacrifices. That’s where the hogs come in.
The Barrow
The map’s simple - not loopy like I prefer - but you don’t need complexity for a one-night adventure. It’s what’s inside that matters.
The Cursed Spear - Engraved with “Biter” (bit of a warning there). Magical but cursed. Fumble and it damages you. Throw it and it tries to come back and kill you. Now your players might need another favour from Marble-Eye.
Stone Golems - Exaggerated faces with lines of facial tattooing, glaring from opal eyes. Animated by souls of sacrificed warriors. They have weaknesses that clever players can discover and exploit.
Rolling Calf - A brooding hulk with a bull skull for a head. An undead assassin raised from a demon-cursed corpse. All he wants is to kill wizards. Your players can try to befriend him (bad idea), kill him, or just top up the wards and leave.
Why This Module Is Different
Here’s the gold. The concluding notes don’t just say “adventure over, move on.” They tell you:
Marble-Eye is now your ally. Someone who can cure curses is super valuable. But every time players go back, there’s a price.
The Warlock King is now part of your campaign. You didn’t have to create him - he’s just there now.
If Rolling Calf escapes, Marble-Eye relocates to Scarlet Town, hiding and collecting grimoires.
One night’s gaming that creates recurring NPCs, factions, and hooks. That’s not often done in short modules.
Bottom Line
Beautifully written. Dirt cheap on DriveThruRPG. In a few pages you get a complete adventure PLUS campaign fodder that keeps paying off.