Dead Man's Hand

Dead Man’s Hand is a tale of desperate gamblers and corrupt lawmen, of criminal subtlety and supernatural mystery. Characters begin at 1st level, and by the end of the campaign they should by 9th or 10th level. The ideal party size is four characters. If your group is larger or smaller, you can adjust the adventure’s difficulty by reducing or increasing the number of enemies present in a given encounter.

Dead Man’s Hand is set in the American Frontier circa 1872. The region, known as as Western Valley, is a fictional territory not intended to be a specific location. As such, there is no conflict with birthplace or recent places of living for the characters, Everyone arrives in Western Valley just the same, and are no culture is more foreign than any other. A combination of roads, railroads, and even a few rivers connect the various settlements of the valley. Adventure Supplements. You can play this adventure with just the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS basic rules and the Frontier campaign setting, which contains all the enemies and items not described in this book.

Dakota Territory. 1872.

The gold that once birthed the boomtown of Red Gulch has begun to dry out. To keep pioneers in the city and invite in more, Mayor Ellis has called for a poker tournament with stakes too high for folks to pass up. On the second night of the tournament, however, a tavern girl screams as her drunken patron slumps over with a knife in his back. Over time, more and more residents and visitors – many of them participants in the tournament – end up six feet under. Can the remaining players and curious bystanders solve the mystery of Red Gulch before it’s too late?