Night of the Brine

A Cthulhu Mythos Adventure for 4-6 Characters of 3rd Level

Resante was once a respectable port city, until a terrible plague called the Brine warped the minds
and bodies of its citizens. Step into the shoes of a motley group of adventurers trapped in the city
on the night chaos brought Resante to ruin...the Night of the Brine!

Author and Development Graphic Design and Layout

Alex Clippinger Tony Mastrangeli
Art Editing and Proofreading
Helge Balzer Eytan Bernstein

Night of the Brine, © 2020, Petersen Games.

Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a,
Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters,
artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not
included in this declaration.)

Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Petersen Games game
product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than
the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
 Night of the Brine
A Cthulhu Mythos Adventure for 4-6 Characters of 3rd Level
Mythos and the horror behind our reality comes at a price:
Running the Adventure characters proficient in this skill take a penalty equal
Night of the Brine is a 5E adventure designed to introduce to half their proficiency bonus on saving throws against
players to the world of Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos. dread, insanity, madness, magical effects that cause fear,
It is designed for a party of four to six characters of 3rd and similar effects. For the 3rd-level characters in this
level and should take approximately 1-2 hours to complete. adventure, the penalty to such saving throws is -1.

Adventure Summary Touched by the Brine

The coastal town of Resante is a crumbling shell of its A mysterious disease has taken hold of Resante, wrack-
former self, but only a few decades ago it was a lively port. ing their minds with violent urges and their bodies with
Its fall came about because of a twisting plague, its victims piscine transformations. As the characters engage with
wracked with madness and horrific piscine transforma- the infected denizens of the city, there is a chance that
tions. It all came to a head one terrible night. they, too, will be “touched by the Brine” and contract the
Tonight. maddening plague. The events of this adventure don’t take
Characters take on the role of residents and passing place on a timeline long enough for an infected character
travelers caught in Resante on the city’s most fateful to fully transform into a maddened fish-like humanoid, but
night, when the plague and its maddened casualties swept the first stages of the plague can be debilitating.
through Resante at a fevered peak. Can the characters Once per turn when a Brine-touched creature hits a
escape the Night of the Brine with their sanity and bodies character with a melee weapon attack, the target must
intact? Or will they succumb to the contagion that will succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become
ultimately bring the city to ruin? “touched by the Brine.” A character “touched by the Brine”
gains one level of exhaustion within 2d10 minutes of infec-
tion, and a second level of exhaustion within 1 hour. Other
Dread and Insanity interactions with the infected, such as interacting with the
Some interactions in this adventure put characters at risk bodies of infected creatures, also prompt an uninfected
of gaining levels of dread. The full rules for dread and in- character to make the saving throw as you see fit.
sanity can be found in Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos. If players continue to play with characters after the ad-
For this introductory adventure, characters won’t have a venture’s conclusion, any characters touched by the Brine
chance to gain more than a few levels of dread. Though will continue to transform into a deep one hybrid (SPCM
there are usually seven levels of dread, only the first four 297) over the course of 1d4+1 weeks unless the myste-
levels are detailed here: rious disease is cured. It is your determination as a GM
whether the touch of the Brine is treated as a mundane
◊  1 Disturbed. Must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw disease or something more nefarious.
against the dread’s save DC to move closer to the
dread’s source.
◊  2 Spooked. Cannot approach the source of the dread Choosing Characters
(automatically fails the saving throw listed at level 1); The adventure comes with 6 pre-generated 3rd-level char-
disadvantage on ability checks while the dread’s source acters. Each showcases a race or subclass from Sandy
is within line of sight. Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos (SPCM) and gives some idea
◊  3 Afraid. Disadvantage on attack rolls while the dread’s about the character themes that can be found in that book.
source is within line of sight. 
◊  4 Staggered. Insanity risk (see below); drop all held What Brings You to Resante?
items upon reaching this and any higher level of dread; Each character has their own reasons for being in Re-
can’t take bonus actions or reactions; at the start of own sante. The news of illness in town, which has turned more
turn, must make a Wisdom saving throw against the and more victims into recluses, has caught the attention of
dread’s save DC; success reduces dread level by one. those who are watchful for the Mythos’s strange phenom-
ena. Perhaps they are waiting to charter a ship from Re-
sante to another port, but they’ve been stranded as larger
New Skill: Yog-Sothothery vessels stay away from the docks for fear of contracting
A number of the pre-generated characters provided are this strange disease.
proficient in a new Wisdom-based skill: Yog-Sothothery. A
Wisdom (Yog-Sothothery) check measures a character’s
ability to recall Mythos lore or formulate a new under- I. In the Starry Gazey
standing of a Mythos phenomenon. Knowledge of the As the adventure opens, the characters are in one of Re-

2 Night of the Brine

sante’s more popular inns and taverns, the Starry Gazey. lights have grown dim since closing, and a single low-burn-
Read or paraphrase the following: ing oil lamp on the bar sheds any light in the otherwise
shadowy room. Blood is splashed across the front of the
The port city of Resante has gone strangely quiet, its bar, and a humanoid figure lies face-down just below the
port and shipyards abandoned. A strange illness has lantern’s halo of illumination.
gripped the town’s population in recent weeks, spread- The common room is dimly lit. The small lantern on
ing faster and faster among the locals. The illness the bar currently sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and
seems to have rendered most of its victims bedridden, dim light for an additional 10 feet. A creature can use an
as they haven’t been seen in public. Among those action to adjust the lantern so that it sheds bright light in
affected is the owner of the Starry Gazey, the inn and a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet. It
tavern where you’re staying while in Resante. contains enough oil to burn continuously for 1 hour.

The Starry Gazey is a two-story building. The first floor

Aldruck Murray
contains a large common room with a bar, a bathroom, a
kitchen and storeroom for staff, and the private residence Aldruck Murray is slumped facedown by the bar when the
rooms of Aldruck Murray (N male human commoner), characters enter. He is still alive but is incapacitated by
the establishment’s owner. The second floor is split into his wound, a deep stab to the chest. Without intervention,
eight small but comfortable single-bed rooms for the inn’s he will die within 1 minute of the characters entering the
guests. The first and second floor are separated by a door common room. Trying to help Aldruck or investigate his
at the top of the stairs. body reveals his aberrant transformation:
The PCs should spend some time interacting with one ◊  His eyes appear overly large and bulge shockingly from
another. It’s a slow, sleepy night in Resante, and nothing his skull. They are starkly veined and spotted with a
seems amiss. They can spend time talking, drinking, or yellowish jaundice.
head up to their rooms. The action begins in the dead of ◊  The corners of Aldruck’s mouth seem pulled wide, his
night, and the following assumes the PCs are asleep in lips thin and hardened until his mouth has a distinctly
their rooms upstairs. (If any are downstairs or elsewhere, fishlike appearance. His teeth seem long and gray as
modify the encounter below as necessary.) the gums have retracted.
◊  The sweat covering Aldruck’s body is viscous to the
A Dreadful Commotion touch, and patches of rough scale-like skin have begun
Just after midnight, shouts and a crashing noise from to appear faintly at random points on his body. His flesh
downstairs are enough to wake anyone asleep on the gives off a pungent, brackish odor.
second floor. Within seconds, the door to the second floor
Seeing Aldruck’s warped metamorphosis is a disturbing
flies open as Barril Invar (NG nonbinary half-elf com-
sight; any creature that sees his body must succeed on a
moner) crashes through it. Characters recognize Barril
DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or gain one level of dread for
as a bartender who works evenings in the common room
1 hour. While the dread lasts, an affected creature must
below. Barril grabs a small table at the end of the hall
succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw in order to
and shoves it against the door as a halfhearted attempt to
willingly move to a space within 10 feet of anyone similarly
barricade the door before collapsing to the ground. Barril
transformed by the Brine. Any character that succeeds on
is sweating and shaking, the front of their shirt spattered
a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine or Yog-Sothothery) check is
with blood. They are armed with a bloodied kitchen knife
certain Aldruck’s recent illness and his metamorphosis are
(treated as a dagger) clutched in one hand.
linked.
Barril fearfully explains that they were cleaning up after
closing when Aldruck Murray, the inn’s owner, appeared
and attacked without warning:
Treasure
The bar contains plenty of cheap alcohol and common bar
“He was a man possessed! I haven’t seen him since he supplies. Business has been slow with the strange illness
took ill, but he looked utterly monstrous! Eyes bulging going around; the unlocked strongbox tucked under the
from his head, his mouth wide as his face, his skin bar only contains 4 gp, 61 sp, and 48 cp.
covered in slimy sweat. He tried to smash my head in
with a chair but I dodged, somehow. I took the knife Aldruck’s Room
I’d been cleaning and…” They trail off, shuddering.
During his illness, Aldruck has largely remained in his pri-
Barril stabbed Aldruck in the chest with the knife and fled vate room on the ground floor. The bedroom is in disarray,
upstairs in a panic. They are unsure if Aldruck is still alive, the stale odor of sweat-soaked sheets souring the air.
but there is no noise from the first floor.
Treasure
The Common Room A lockbox under the bed isn’t hard to find but requires a
successful DC 20 Dexterity (thieves’ tools) check to open.
The Starry Gazey’s common room is an open area with
It contains Aldruck’s personal savings of 44 gp, 32 sp, and
a mishmash collection of tables and chairs. The hanging
78 cp.

Night of the Brine

3
 ◊  To the harbor, in hopes of escaping by
boat.
Each route comes with its own tensions
and confrontations, as detailed below.
Regardless of route, a bright full moon
bathes the city and its surroundings in
dim light.

Staying Inside
The characters might consider staying
in the Starry Gazey, hoping to fortify it
against siege or hide out undetected. Bar-
ril Invar stresses the idea of fleeing the
city. If unsuccessful, a patrolling group of
1d4+1 deep one hybrid cultists (SPCM
298) and 1d3 deep one hybrid thugs
appears and attempts to force their way
into the building. If the characters fight
them, one or more of the hybrids shouts
an alarm and runs for help, leading to
more attackers.
If the characters need more reason to
leave the inn, the hybrids set the building
on fire, either during combat or before
they leave if the characters remain hidden.

Chase Events
If the characters are forced to flee Resante in
a chase sequence, intermittently roll events or
II. Escaping Resante challenges on the table below that could hinder their flight.
d6 Chase Event
The characters must escape the city before the plague and
1 A commoner maddened by the Brine bursts out
its monstrously-turned victims. The sections below detail
of a nearby building and tries to tackle a random
three routes to account for the major routes the charac-
character. The target must succeed on a DC 11
ters are most likely to take, as well as the consequences
Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
for staying inside the Starry Gazey, hoping (vainly) to ride
2 1d4 Brine-touched commoners shake and vomit
out the night’s events. (Adapt the below information for in the street as patches of fishlike scales appear on
alternative strategies.) their exposed skin. Characters must succeed on a
When the characters first make a point of leaving the DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or gain one level of
Starry Gazey or otherwise perceive the city around them dread at the sight, which lasts for 1 hour.
(such as from the windows), note the following: 3 A burning cart blocks the street; each character
must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity check to avoid
Screams and shouts echo from the streets of Resante.
the flames or a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check
In one direction, a warbling chorus of inhuman voices to identify a safe path. Characters that fail their
clamors in unison; in the other, distant screams of check take 1d4 fire damage as they move past.
surprise and fear accompany the occasional sounds 4 Broken furniture and detritus have been piled into
of splintering wood and breaking glass. Barely visible a makeshift barricade. Characters must succeed on
beyond the buildings ahead, the moonlight glimmers a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to navigate the
on the water of Resante harbor. barricade.
5 Mangled bodies of uninfected residents have been
Reading or paraphrasing the above text should indicate to
placed on grisly display. Characters must succeed
the characters that they have three general routes out of
on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or gain one level
Resante:
of dread for 1 hour.
◊  Toward what sounds like a large crowd (see The Mad- 6 Thick smoke chokes the street in this area;
dened Square). characters must either crawl under it or succeed on
◊  Seeking to avoid the crowd (see The Darkened a DC 11 Constitution check to move through the
Streets). smoke. Characters that fail their check fall prone for
a round as they inhale smoke and are poisoned for
1 minute.

4 Night of the Brine

The Maddened Square harbor puts them at odds with the ever-increasing patrols
of residents transformed by the Brine.
If the characters pursue the sound of the chanting crowd, Avoiding Detection. Characters determine if they move
they soon find a moderately-sized square where a horrific at a slow, normal, or fast pace. As with normal travel pace
gathering is taking place. Read or paraphrase the follow- rules, characters can only make Dexterity (Stealth) checks
ing: if they move at a slow pace, unless a feature allows other-
wise. Characters moving at a fast pace have disadvantage
A crude wooden platform has been constructed at one on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
end of the square, near the entrance of an imposing
monolithic building of dark, featureless stone. Atop the
platform, the figure of an elderly woman twisted with
Enemy Encounters
piscine features looks down on a crowd of heaving Patrols of 1d4+1 deep one hybrid cultists (SPCM 298)
bodies beneath her. A crowd of figures kneels, bows, and 1d4-1 deep one hybrid thugs roam the streets, break
writhes, chants, and screams at the foot of the stage into buildings, and attack uninfected residents. They are
beneath her. not interested in moving or acting quietly, and characters
have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to sneak
When a character sees this display of madness for the first by them unnoticed. Characters should have at least one
time, they must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw opportunity to interact with a patrol group, even if it en-
or gain two levels of dread until they finish a long rest. tails sneaking by as the deep one hybrids force the Brine
The group in front of the platform consists of 1d4+2 infection onto residents of Resante.
deep one hybrid thugs and 3d4+3 deep one hybrid
cultists (SPCM 287). 2d4 humanoids in front of the Gate Blockade
platform are deep in the throes of a delirious fever caused When the characters reach the city gates, they find them
by the Brine; they are noncombatants with AC 10 and 6 hit guarded by hybrids determined to keep the population of
points each. Resante trapped inside. There are 1d4 deep one hybrid
The figure on the platform is Rahel Fenn (CE female cultists (SPCM 298) and 1 deep one hybrid berserker
deep one scion priest (SPCM 299), 45 hit points). A actively blocking the gate:
descendant of Aldez Fenn, Resante’s founder, Rahel is also
the matriarch of the Fenn family and head priest of the Es- A knot of Brine-maddened residents stands at the gate,
oteric Order of Dagon, whose headquarters looms behind preventing anyone from leaving. Mangled bodies of
her. Rahel and the Order are responsible for the plague citizens killed trying to escape lie scattered around the
sweeping the city and the transformation it inflicts on its gate. One of the afflicted foams at the mouth, blabber-
victims. As the Brine spread through Resante, the Order’s ing incoherently as their bulging eyes glance this way
continued rituals have made the plague more potent and and that.
the transformation of its victims more rapid.
Rahel possesses otherworldly perception on top of her Pulling open the gate quickly (in the span of a single
already-keen senses; she has advantage on Wisdom (Per- round) requires creatures with a combined Strength score
ception) checks to notice any character not yet touched of 30 working together; otherwise, the gate takes 1d4+1
by the Brine, and automatically notices such creatures if rounds to inch open enough for a Medium-sized creature
they spend more than 1 minute in the square. If she spots to get through. After the characters leave Resante behind,
the PCs, she orders the cultists and thugs present to seize the city burns behind them:
them.
As Resante disappears behind you, the glow of burning
A Chase! buildings lights the sky long after the screams of its
residents are no longer audible.
If the characters exit the square undetected, they run into
a patrol of 1d4+1 deep one hybrid cultists (SPCM 298).
The hybrids’ cries of alarm or the sounds of combat alert Resante Harbor
the creatures in the square, who arrive after 3 rounds. Vic-
tory against such a large group is all but impossible; the It’s a short distance from the Starry Gazey to the harbor,
characters’ best chance for survival is to flee. (Refer to the where the characters can attempt to escape Resante by
Chase Events section above for ideas on running a chase boat. The sickness has gripped Resante for weeks, keep-
sequence in Resante.) ing large and midsize trading ships away from the port.
Characters encounter the same group at the city gates The only ships left in the harbor sized for the characters’
as described in the Darkened Streets section below (see party size are sloops and similarly-sized fishing vessels or
Gate Blockade). If they are actively pursued by creatures personal craft.
from the square, their pursuers arrive 1d4+1 rounds after Acquiring a ship isn’t difficult, as the Harbor isn’t guard-
the characters first reach the gate. ed, though the PCs see torches descending toward the
harbor as they work, spurring their efforts. Once they put
The Darkened Streets out on the water, the PCs may think they’ve safely escaped
Resante.
Any route the characters take that avoids the crowd and

Night of the Brine

5
 As the characters start to put some distance between have a cameo role as an NPC, so that players can see the
themselves and Resante’s docks, however, they see the terrible toll the experiences of the Night of the Brine had
following: on their characters’ lives.

A cacophony of moans and wails echoes from the

docks. Bathed in moonlight, you can see the hunched
figures of infected residents as they stagger towards
the waterfront. The figures stagger ahead, stripping off
their clothing with erratic movements before toppling
into the water.

Before the characters can escape the area of the harbor,

they’re boarded by creatures of the Brine, which are faster
swimmers than the boat. 1d4+1 deep one hybrid cultists
(SPCM 298) climb aboard the vessel, appearing from
under the dark water. On initiative count 20 of the second
round of combat, something far worse appears:

A trio of creatures clamber aboard, vocalizing to one

another in wet, gulping croaks. Their scaled bodies
with heaving gills and long, webbed hands puts you
in mind of the transformation of the Brine, but it goes
beyond that. These ichthyoid creatures are inhuman
monstrosities the residents of Resante only resemble.

3 deep ones (SPCM 296) board the boat, determined to

stop anyone from escaping the harbor. The sight of these
aberrations is jarring, the realization that the victims of the
Brine resemble them doubly so. The first time a character
sees a deep one, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom
saving throw or gain two levels of dread until it finishes a
long rest.
If the characters defeat the deep ones, they escape the
madness of Resante:

A dull red glow haloes the skyline in the distance as

fires blossom across Resante. As the distance from the
city grows, the individual screams and monstrous bel-
lows meld into a single tumultuous voice before fading
out of earshot entirely. All the while, the sea around
you remains quest, dark, and still.

Conclusion
Characters that survive their escape from Resante have
glimpsed a small part of the Mythos and its inscrutable
nature, and the events they have experienced may haunt or
drive them for the rest of their lives.
Should players wish to continue play with their charac-
ters from this adventure, characters touched by the Brine
are fated to undergo the same horrible metamorphosis
as the denizens of Resante without some remarkable
intervention.
Players that wish to continue exploring the world of
SPCM can do so through a number of adventures. The
Ghoul Island adventure path begins in Resante many
years after the fateful Night of the Brine, and echoes of
these events are still felt in the present day. It may not fit
your campaign to have these same characters play through
that adventure, but consider having one or more of them

6 Night of the Brine

Appendix: Monsters

Deep One Hybrids

As the Brine starts to warp its victims, they become deep
one hybrids. Creatures that become deep one hybrids keep
their statistics except for a number of changes, which are
fully described in Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos.

Deep One Hybrid Berserker

The hybrid berserker is a powerfully-built humanoid twist-
ed by the Brine. Its madness grants it considerable resil-
ience and battle-fervor. It has the statistics of a berserker,
with the following changes:
◊  Its hit point total is 76 (9d8+36).
◊  Its AC is 12 (hide armor).
◊  It gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet unless it al-
ready had darkvision from another source.
◊  Its speed is reduced to 20 feet and it moves with a
shuffling gait.
◊  Its Constitution score is increased to 19 (+4) and its
Dexterity is reduced to 10 (+0).
◊  It can hold its breath for 1 hour and has advantage on
Strength (Athletics) checks made to swim.

Deep One Hybrid Thug

In a port city full of sailors, shipwrights, and laborers, the
most able-bodied humanoids touched by the Brine become
deep one hybrid thugs. Such a creature has the statistics
of a thug, with the following changes:
◊  Its hit point total is 37 (5d8 + 15).
◊  It gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet unless it al-
ready had darkvision from another source.
◊  Its speed is reduced to 20 feet and it moves with a
shuffling gait.
◊  Its Constitution score is 16 (+3) and its Dexterity is
reduced to 9 (-1).
◊  It can hold its breath for 1 hour and has advantage on
Strength (Athletics) checks made to swim.

Night of the Brine

7