08/28/2025

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts!

At Tabletop Thoughts, our Thursday Drop-In series brings you short, ready-to-run RPG encounters designed for quick play and minimal prep. Each month, we release a new encounter perfect for a single session, offering a mix of exploration, combat, and roleplay opportunities. This month’s entry, The Black Vein, is a tense, horror-tinged adventure set deep in a cursed mountain mine.

Adventure Hook
While traveling through the mountains, the party encounters Foreman Orla Kett, disheveled and frantic. She begs the party to help —
“They’ve changed. They don’t blink anymore. The mine’s cursed — or worse. Please, before it spreads…”

What’s Going On?
While expanding the lowest tunnel, miners uncovered a strange obsidian-like formation that oozes dark mist. This is a sliver of a long-buried entity called the Black Vein — a sentient darkness that spreads through living minds like infection. Those exposed too long become Shadowbound — eerily calm, silent husks of their former selves.

The Vein’s mist suppresses natural light, warps time perception, and causes hallucinations. Miners near it hear whispers offering power, secrets, or comfort — all lies meant to draw them deeper.

Orla sealed the mine’s lowest level, but a few infected miners have already returned to the surface, bringing the threat closer to nearby towns and travelers.

Encounter Ideas

• Investigate the abandoned tunnels and confront Shadowbound miners.
• Discover the origins of the Black Vein and how it was buried long ago.
• Resist the seductive whispers of the mist to prevent corruption.
• Attempt to destroy or seal the Black Vein before it spreads further.

This one-page Thursday Drop-In adventure is perfect for GMs looking for a short, tense encounter with horror, exploration, and moral choices — all designed to run in a single session.

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Keep on gaming!