Inside the Book
Six villains. One night. A duke who doesn't know he's already dead.
Duke Charles the Valiant is celebrating the 15th anniversary of his greatest victory: fifty men against two hundred and fifty orcs, a loss of only ten, and a legend that has followed him ever since. Eldoria turns out for the masquerade. Nobles from across the region fill the hall, masks on, smiles wide, daggers underneath.
The PCs are among the guests. What begins as an evening of courtly excess reveals itself, layer by layer, as something with teeth. Count Alaric wants the dukedom. Lady Rosalind wants something older and harder to name. Viscount Edgar has his own accounting to settle. Even the court jester is not what he seems. Each one has a motive. Each one has a plan. None of them are working together, and all of them are moving tonight.
The PCs must navigate a hall full of smiling enemies, figure out who means to act, and decide how much of Eldoria's future they're willing to hold in their hands.
Smile, Smile, Villain! is a political intrigue adventure built on deception, competing agendas, and the question of who deserves to walk out of the masquerade with what they came for. Combat is present, but the real battlefield is the conversation. Every noble in the room is a lead, a threat, or both.