Chapter 1: Trouble in Knotside

S
omething's wrong with the people of Knotside. A While many of the encounters in the adventure are built for
few weeks ago, a popular new liquor called Red four 10th-level adventurers, a few are significantly more
Claw showed up in the city's many taverns. difficult, especially Tuckerthranx himself. Characters with
Anyone that took even a sip of this spirit resistance or immunity to fire damage will excel in the
immediately wanted another taste. At first, these distillery, as will characters armed with area of effect spells.
desires were nothing more than cravings. But Small, light characters will also have little trouble in the
soon, those cravings grew to obsession. Then Cauldron.
obsession turned to violence. Now, the city of Knotside faces
collapse as the red-eyed Red Claw addicts stalk the streets, Adventure Background
desperate for more.
Unknown to the citizens of Knotside, Red Claw is the Knotside, for the most part, is a calm city filled with lawful
invention of a wicked red dragon that calls itself Tuckerthranx citizens. Of course, being such a prosperous and thriving
the Agitator. Only through stopping the dragon and his community, it is often the target for mischief, political
kobold minions will the town of Knotside be free of this subterfuge, and the occasional attack from rabble-rousers,
booze-fueled curse. firebrands, and evil-doers. One such evil-doer recently moved
into Drakescale Peak, a mountain 25 miles to the north of
Running this adventure Knotside—an adult red dragon named Tuckerthranx the
Agitator.
Clash at Kobold Cauldron is a challenging location-based Tuckerthranx (or just "Tucker" for short) stands apart from
adventure for four 10th-level adventurers. The adventure his other red-scaled brethren. Driven by an insatiable desire
starts in the Royal City of Knotside and leads the characters to grow his already-stout treasure hoard, Tucker often puts
to the Red Claw distillery where they will encounter his mind and cleverness before his ego and arrogance.
Tuckerthranx, an adult red dragon, and his wily horde of Knowing that attacking a city as large and well-guarded as
kobolds. Knotside would be pure foley, Tucker instead turned his
machinations towards entrepreneurialism. With the help of
Clash at Kobold Cauldron 1
 The militia is made of six guards riding on war horses led
The Naval City of Knotside by a veteran named Kollias. Kollias hails the characters and
To learn more about Knotside, you can check out asks if they need any assistance. He then explains what's
Cze and Peku's City Maps Patreon that details the happening in Knotside.
city, its inhabitants, and important locations
therein. If you choose not to run the adventure in "It started about a month ago. This group of monks rode into
or near Knotside, you can use any medium or larger the city offering up barrels and bottles of this liquor called Red
lawful or lawful good city near a mountain range.
Claw. Only a few taverns bought it and the monks left. Right
away, the Red Claw was a huge hit. Anyone who had a taste
immediately started speaking its praises, claiming it was the
best spirit they'd ever tasted. Then the monks came back a few
a plucky kobold sorcerer/brewer named Boeger, Tucker days later, bringing more. Soon, everyone started drinking the
created a tasty, alcoholic beverage named, appropriately, Red
Claw. stuff. But the more they drank, the more of it they wanted. The
Boeger's Red Claw wasn't just a delicious, anise-flavored third time the monks came, they were mobbed. When that
spirit. It also contained a special ingredient: dark magic. Any supply ran out, riots started. People had to have more. The
creature that drank the liquor immediately desired more. At fourth time, the monks came armed. And their prices went up.
first, the liquor's effect was subtle. Hardly anyone in Knotside Way up.
noticed that they were becoming addicted to the stuff. But "It didn't matter, of course. The people of our city were
after a couple shots, drinkers would do anything to get obsessed with the liquor. They were throwing all their gold,
another taste. Knotsiders were tossing gold, jewels, gems,
anything they could to get more barrels from the dragon's jewels, whatever they could get their hands on onto the
delivery men. monk's wagons just for a few bottles of the stuff. Those who
Eventually, riots broke out as the town turned towards couldn't get a taste turned violent.
chaos. Half of Knotside's militia tried to temper the issue and "We've been trying to find the source of the liquor itself, but
control the ravenous population. The other half were just as unfortunately what few men I have left are tied up quelling the
affected, rendered useless by their own craving for the Claw. riots. If you're adventurers—and it looks like you are—then I
hope you can assist us in finding the source of the Red Claw
Adventure Hook liquor, and, in turn, a way to return our citizens' sanity."

The characters' first introduction to Red Claw and its effects

occurs while they are traveling just outside of Knotside, In the way of a reward, Kollias doesn't have much to offer the
either returning from an adventure or headed to the city characters at the moment. However, he promises that the city
itself. of Knotside—the remarkably wealthy city of Knotside—will
Just a mile or two outside of the city, read or paraphrase be in their debt. He does mention that the Red Claw monks
the following: have hauled off massive piles of coins and gems from the
Knotsiders. Were the characters to find it, they are free to
In the middle of the road stands a group of eight unarmored
keep one-quarter of it. "The people of Knotside will see it as a
men and women. Each is holding a club in his or her hands
'fee' for your services, I'm sure," he will assure the characters.
and they're looking your way. But that's not the most troubling
What Kollias Knows
thing. They all have glowing red eyes and their stomachs
appear unnaturally distended—almost like massive beer-guts At this point, the characters probably have a few questions for
hanging over their respective belts.
Kollias. Here is what he knows about Red Claw and its
"Give us your booze money!" one of them shouts. The rest
creators.
of the mob nods in agreement, then raises its clubs and "How does Red Claw affect the drinkers?"
approaches. Kollias notes that the Red Claw itself doesn't act like a poison
or a disease, but instead has more in common with a curse.
The group is made up of eight commoners and they are all The available clergy in Knotside have been working to cast
heavily addicted to Red Claw. They've been attacking remove curse on the infected, but they are terribly
passersby, robbing them of their coins and jewelry so they overwhelmed. Some of the sages in town theorize that if they
can purchase more from Tucker's goons. had the original ingredients that went into creating the Red
The commoners are easily broken, fleeing if even one of Claw, they could devise a bulk cure for everyone in town.
them is killed. Although possessed by their desire for more "Where did the monks that delivered the
Red Claw liquor, they aren't totally suicidal. Red Claw go?"
Regardless if the characters kill the group or not, The last time the monks came into town, they were armed.
eventually the Knotside militia rides up to investigate. While What few commoners tried to go after them were picked off
the situation might look bad to a normal group of soldiers by flaming arrows shot by the caravan guards. Kollias sent a
(especially if the characters killed the commoners), these scout after the monks and believes they're hiding their
militiamen already realize what's happened. distillery somewhere in the Basilisk's Spine mountain range.

2
"What did the monks look like?" through the mountains. It's been a couple days since the
Kollias and his men swear that some of the monks were caravan left, so tracking it isn't easy. A character must
dragonborn. Others were short, possibly halflings. They all succeed on a DC 25 Wisdom (Survival) check to follow the
wore thick robes with bandages wrapped around their arms path in the dirt.
and face. Mangy-looking giant weasels pulled their carts. The If the characters have trouble finding the path, they can
guards who came with them were heavily armed and search the mountains themselves for clues. Each hour that
organized, but also robed, wearing red dragon masks similar they spend searching in the mountains, have them make a
to the logo on the liquor bottles. Wisdom (Survival) check with a DC equal to 25 minus 1 for
each hour they spend searching for clues. Clues can include
"Will Kollias help the characters find the things like discarded corks from the liquor bottles, tracks in
brewers?" the dirt, a broken crate, or anything else that you feel is
Currently, Kollias' men are tied up with the overwhelming appropriate.
unrest in Knotside. He doesn't have a single hand to spare. In addition, once per hour while the characters are
However, he does offer a map to the mountain range. searching, roll a d20. On a roll of 18-20, the characters run
into a brewer caravan. Instead of rolling, you can opt to have
"Have you hired anyone else for this job?" the encounter occur whenever you feel necessary, especially
So far, Kollias hasn't come across any other adventurers. if the characters haven't found any solid leads after a few
What few adventurers were already in Knotside were affected hours of searching.
by the liquor. He's lucky to have caught the characters outside
of the city. The Delivery Men
Resting in Knotside The characters come across the delivery men's caravan.
They're set on returning to Knotside one last time to collect
If the characters opt to stay the night in Knotside despite the any remaining gold and merchandise they can. From there,
troubles, Kollias and his men escort them to the Venerable they plan on targeting another city within a days' ride.
Swordsman, an inn on the south side of that city that remains Knowing that Knotside is in dismay and the militia has
mostly unaffected by the chaos. The majority of the shops, caught on to their ploy, the brewers are even better prepared
taverns, and other points of interest in Knotside are currently this time.
closed. Kollias, fearful for his city, urges the characters not to The caravan consists of three carts pulled by two dire
waste too much time. He can procure whatever they need in weasels each (see the Appendix). Atop each cart is a massive
terms of arms, ammunition, and armor from the town's hogshead barrel holding 79 gallons of Red Claw liquor. The
armory. He can also grant up to 4 potions of healing per barrels have an AC of 16 and 50 hit points, plus immunity to
character and any basic supplies they might require. poison and psychic damage. Any hit on the barrel causes its
Should the characters dally too long, Kollias eventually contents to leak onto the dirt and rocks. The liquor is also
grows impatient and seeks out another group to solve the flammable. If the cask takes fire damage, roll a d20. If the
issue. result on the d20 is less than the fire damage dealt, the cask
erupts in a 20-foot radius explosion. Each creature in the
The Basilisk's Spine area must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 14
(4d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a
Kollias' scout followed the brewers for about 20 miles before successful one. A flammable object in the area ignites if it
arriving at the foothills of the Basilisk's Spine. The Spine is a isn't being worn or carried.
jagged collection of peaks, bluffs, and sheer cliffs, boldly At the front of each cart is a kobold driver that's been
facing the ocean to the east. An active volcano sits at the instructed to stay seated even if they run into trouble. Should
heart of it. things turn bad, they are to return to base.
Leading the caravan are two cloaked kobold wing
Tucker's Regional Effects sorcerers each with two ogre bodyguards. It doesn't take
Tucker is a legendary adult red dragon. The region long for the kobolds to figure out that the adventurers are
surrounding his volcanic lair in Drakescale Peak is warped there to stop their operation. They immediately attack. If they
by his innate magic. Within 6 miles, small earthquakes are are reduced to half their numbers or fewer, the kobolds pile
common. Sulfur taints all water sources within 1 mile, and onto the carts and retreat. Fully loaded, the weasels have a
rocky fissures form portals to the Elemental Plane of Fire—it movement speed of 20 feet, 40 feet if they Dash, so it should
wouldn't be out of place for the characters to run into the odd be easy to chase them. The kobolds aren't afraid to cut away
azer, fire elemental, or salamander war party within the the barrels to increase their speed. This gives the weasels
region. their normal movement speed of 40 feet.
Minion Resistances. Thanks to his magic, all of Tucker's Once the characters defeat or drive off the brewers, the
kobolds and henchmen have resistance to fire damage. tracks they leave should be easy enough to follow to the Red
Claw Distillery, requiring no further Wisdom (Survival)
checks.
Tracking the Red Claw Caravan
Once the characters discover the spot where the scout last
saw the monks, they will need to track the caravan's route