Codex Ossium

- 2 mins read

Deep beneath the earth, the bones remember.

The Codex Ossium is a necromantic artifact, a tome of fused vertebrae, rib-bound leather, and whispering ink. Those who bind themselves to it find its knowledge unending, its hunger eternal. It grants power over death at the cost of the living, growing bone upon bone into a cancerous lair that consumes all it touches.

To wield the Codex is to unmake the boundary between scholar and corpse, to turn study into desecration, and to hear the whispers of ash and marrow beneath your dreams.

Overview

Codex Ossium is a modular supplement and dungeon annex for Shadowdark RPG or any old school fantasy game. It introduces a powerful necromantic artifact alongside a fully keyed Appendix Dungeno, The Annex of Bone, which can be attached to any existing location in your campaign.

The module blends artifact driven narrative and dungeon play, giving GMs tools to integrate the Codex into their world as a temptation, a curse, or a prize too dangerous to claim.

Features

This module includes:

  • A fully described necromantic artifact with detailed powers, drawbacks, and restoration stages

  • Rules for creating, customizing, and commanding skeletal constructs

  • The Annex of Bone: an Annex Dungeon grown from the Codex’s hunger, designed to graft onto existing dungeons

  • Encounters featuring hybrid undead, scavenging skeletons, and Elias Coren, the doomed wizard who fed the Codex too long

  • Guidance for introducing the Codex as a world altering element that tempts both player and GM alike

  • 12 pages of modular, public domain content designed for ease of use and adaptation

Note: This adventure was created for the Beyond Death Horror TTRPG Jam

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