The DCC rulebook tells us the ceremony to form a patron bond with Azi Dahaka must “be conducted in a desert at high noon where the caster has imbibed no liquid for one day and one night before.” But what leads the caster to the desert in the first place, and what horrors await them once they arrive?

Here’s a short list of adventure hooks/side quests designed to introduce your players to Azi Dahaka, the demon prince of storms and waste. (For Bobugbubilz, lord of amphibians, click here.)

Getting to Know…Azi Dahaka

1 – The party discovers a collection of scrolls in the basement of an abandoned monastery. These Hymns to the Hydra include a ritual to summon a lesser demon who will escort the caster to the location of the bonding ceremony. Roll 1d5 to determine what form the demon takes: (1) a swarm of locusts (2) a starving jackal (3) a dust devil (4) a sun-bleached skeleton (5) a spectral desert nomad.

2 – A passing sandstorm uncovers the bones of a pilgrim who died trying to cross the wastes. The desert air has preserved the pilgrim’s journal, which describes his discovery of a “burning obelisk” three days to the west.

3 – As the characters make camp at an oasis, a hermit with skin charred by the desert sun invites them to a meal of fruit and wine. Characters who accept the meal awaken the next day feeling fully refreshed. Azi Dahaka rewards those who refuse with a night of feverish dreams filled with visions of his crumbling, lightning-blasted palace.

4 – Among the spoils of the party’s latest victory is a brass coin stamped with the image of a seven-headed hydra. No merchant will take the coin, but if pressed they direct the characters to a clan of serpent-eyed nomads, who accept the coin as payment for guiding the party to Azi Dahaka’s temple.

5 – The next time the caster’s magic causes significant ruin (via a scorching ray or fireball, for example), a wavering image of Azi Dahaka appears above the flames. Later, if the PCs search the ashes, they discover a chunk of glowing obsidian too hot to be handled by anyone other than the caster.

6 – The PCs hear legends of the Ophidian Pit, an enormous sinkhole deep in the desert. A forgotten avatar of Azi Dahaka coils at the bottom. In the canyons nearby, a coven of witches captures and flays anyone they deem unworthy to petition their god.

Let’s take a quick detour from the Runewild Campaign Setting into one of my favorite games, Dungeon Crawl Classics!

There was a discussion on the Goodman Games discord the other day about that awkward moment in DCC when elves (and some wizards) reach 1st level and want to cast Patron Bond. Like many, I’m not crazy about the idea of players simply choosing their patron from the rulebook. Much better, I think, to make them learn about potential patrons through play.

Here’s a short list of adventure hooks/side quests you can use to introduce your players to the first patron presented in the DCC rulebook: Bobugbubilz, demon lord of amphibians.

Getting to Know…Bobugbubilz

1 – Behind the bar of a roadside tavern, the party notices a dust-covered bottle, at the bottom of which floats an eyeless, albino newt. A caster who drinks from the bottle is struck blind but can lead the way to a network of flooded caves not far from the party’s current location.

2 – During their research, the caster stumbles upon a chapbook tucked between the pages of another tome. This chapbook, entitled The Metamorphosis of Hollis Kreel, details Kreel’s strange transformation after licking a toad he discovered in a nearby wood. Though it positions itself as a cautionary tale, the chapbook’s unnamed author provides a detailed description of the toad, as well directions to the wood where it was found.

3 – The local assassins’ guild wants to replenish its stock of emerald dart frog poison. While most scholars believe the emerald dart frog is extinct, the guild hires the party to seek out a tribe of jungle-dwelling halflings who know the location of a forsaken temple where a specimen of the frog might be obtained.

4 – The party intercepts a package bound for a corrupt city official. It contains a cloak fashioned from the hide of giant toad, as well as an invitation to meet the other “tadpoles” on the night of the next full moon.

5 – On the summer solstice, the clan-folk of the Sipping Fen perform a strange ritual in which they allow swarms of flies to bite their naked skin from dawn til dusk. The flies, the clan’s shaman claims, deliver the blood to a hungry frog-god who lives in the heart of the swamp. A caster who undergoes this ritual for a full week (and survives) may become a favored servant of the frog-god.

6 – The party discovers a scroll detailing a gruesome ceremony in which the caster sings paeans to Bobugbubilz, then severs their own tongue. Over the course of the next seven days, the caster’s tongue regrows into that of a frog’s, cementing their bond with the demon lord.