The Clockwork Tower - A D&D One Shot

February 19, 2026

Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild

"Not far from the university of Strixhaven a clockmaker once built his tower. As far as you know the tower stood empty for years and the clockmaker has not been seen anymore. Now the university wants to use the tower once more and you seem like just the right party to make it functional again!"

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This is a One Shot D&D adventure that can be played in 3-4 hours. I played it a lot of times myself and liked it so much, that I decided to bring it into digital format and share it with people, who hopefully enjoy it, too. This adventure relies a lot on puzzles and features a time loop mechanic.
The topic of losing a child is discussed in this adventure.

The base rulebooks are required (Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master Guide), because the adventure references spells, monsters and items from there. Page numbers for the 2014 and 2024 books are given. One enemy from "Monsters of the Multiverse" or "Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes" (appears in both) is used, but that monster may be swapped out for another if you do not own the books.

The adventure is meant for level 1 characters, but can be adapted due to it being so puzzle-heavy. Pre-generated characters with a Strixhaven background were uploaded separately for free (here: https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/557803/pre-generated-characters-with-strixhaven-backgrounds).

Handouts are meant to be used in this adventure and are included as separate files to print more easily. Maps also come as separate files. Both are also in the adventure PDF. The adventure (with handouts and maps) is 14 pages long.

Feel free to get this adventure for free and see if you enjoy it first! If you did, I would love to hear your thoughts and, as a university student myself (though not at Strixhaven), a financial contribution is of course also always appreciated, but not needed. I still have a ton of adventures that I could also share, but even though the adventures are already complete and have been played before, bringing them into a digital format is a lot of work. So if anyone would like to see more of my work, let me know and I will see if I can spare the time!

The adventure is also available in German.