Temple of Eternal Faces 🎭

A Twisted Sanctum for 4-6 Adventurers of Levels 3-5

“In these halls, identity melts like wax, and the walls remember every face they’ve worn…”

Part I: The Sealed Sanctum 🏛️

Initial Impressions

The great doors seal with finality, trapping the expedition within the Temple of Eternal Faces. The air immediately feels different—thicker, almost crystalline. Dr. Wells, his features already beginning to shift, presses his palm against a wall where countless stone faces twist and writhe.

“They’re all here,” he whispers, voice cracking. “Every expedition, every explorer… preserved in living stone.”

Current Status

• The Party: Sealed within, no visible exit
• The Space: Cathedral-like chamber defying physics
• The Air: Heavy with identity-dissolving vapor
• The Walls: Covered in moving, whispering faces

Part II: Architecture of Identity 🗿

The Great Gallery

Where the faces first appear - Ceiling height: 40 feet, constantly shifting - Floor: Polished stone reflecting distorted images - Walls: Living surface of countless faces - Atmosphere: Thick with whispers and memory

Environmental Effects (check every 10 minutes): 1. Reflections show different faces (DC 12 WIS) 2. Memories become fluid (DC 14 WIS) 3. Skin begins hardening (DC 13 CON) 4. Identity bleeds (DC 15 CHA)

Chamber Progression

1. Hall of Countless Faces
   • Entry chamber with living walls
   • Mercury-like tears flowing upward
   • Floating stone masks
   • Reality-bending architecture
2. Transformation Chamber
   • Circular pit of liquid stone
   • Crystalline air that solidifies
   • Half-formed beings in stasis
   • Reality-warping pillars
3. Mask Maker’s Sanctum
   • Ancient automated tools
   • Pulsing veins of living stone
   • Reality-splitting mirrors
   • Empty throne of faces

Part III: Denizens of Stone 👥

Identity Parasites

“They wear your memories like masks…” - HP: 35 | AC: 16 - Attack: Memory Drain (+7) 2d6 psychic - Special Abilities: - Face Theft - Memory Access - Shape Alteration - Identity Absorption

The Faceless Ones

“Once they were like us…” - HP: 58 | AC: 14 - Attack: Identity Theft (+8) 2d8 psychic - Special Abilities: - Form Shifting - Memory Consumption - Stone Phasing - Reality Bending

Living Stone Fragments

“The walls hunt when hungry…” - HP: 42 | AC: 15 - Attack: Slam (+6) 1d10+4 - Special Abilities: - Wall Merger - Stone Phase - Identity Echo - Memory Capture

Part IV: Descent into Transformation 🌀

Stage 1: Initial Changes

• Reflections show stranger’s faces
• Memories become uncertain
• Skin feels crystalline
• Thoughts echo in stone

Stage 2: Deep Transformation

• Features begin shifting
• Memories merge with walls
• Flesh hardens periodically
• Identity fragments

Stage 3: Final Form

• Stone conversion begins
• Consciousness splits
• Reality becomes fluid
• Identity dissolves

Part V: Key NPCs’ Descent 👤

Dr. Harrison Wells

Stage 1: Academic fascination - “The mathematics of identity… it’s all here!” - Obsessively documenting changes - Maintaining scientific distance

Stage 2: Partial transformation - “I can hear them all… so many voices…” - Features shifting constantly - Merging with collective memory

Stage 3: Near absorption - “We were meant to join them…” - Barely human - Accessing stone memories

Sister Mary Catherine

Stage 1: Crisis of faith - “God’s face… it changes here…” - Prayers twist strangely - Struggling with reality

Stage 2: Stone speaker - “The litany of faces calls…” - Performing wall rituals - Channel between worlds

Stage 3: Transformation prophet - “All faces are one face…” - Nearly absorbed - Seeing cosmic truth

Part VI: Discovery Elements 📜

Ancient Records

1. Wall Inscriptions
   • Transformation purpose
   • Cosmic significance
   • Escape methods
   • Previous victims
2. Memory Echoes
   • Past expeditions
   • Temple origins
   • Ritual purposes
   • Hidden truths
3. Stone Tablets
   • Mask Maker’s identity
   • Temple mechanics
   • Transformation process
   • Cosmic plan

Part VII: Environmental Challenges 🌫️

Hazard Table (d8)

1. Memory bleeding
2. Identity fracture
3. Stone conversion
4. Reality warp
5. Face theft
6. Consciousness split
7. Time distortion
8. Space folding

Transformation Resistance

• CON save DC increases by 1 per hour
• WIS save against memory bleed
• CHA save to maintain identity
• INT save to resist absorption

Part VIII: DM Tools 🎲

Horror Elements

• Emphasize identity uncertainty
• Use mirror/reflection encounters
• Show gradual transformation
• Include memory bleeding

Pacing Guidelines

1. Introduction Phase
   • Establish atmosphere
   • Initial face encounters
   • First transformations
2. Development Phase
   • Deeper exploration
   • Major revelations
   • Identity challenges
3. Climax Phase
   • Final transformations
   • Ultimate truths
   • Escape attempts

Transition Hooks

• Deeper temple mysteries
• The Mask Maker’s location
• Cosmic purpose revelation
• Transformation reversal

Part IX: Conclusion Elements

Escape Options

1. Ancient ritual reversal
2. Identity anchor points
3. Reality tear escape
4. Transformation mastery

Campaign Integration

• Long-term identity effects
• Stone communion ability
• Memory echo access
• Temple connection

Continue to Episode 4: “Chamber of Final Forms”