Morbeck’s Museum of the Macabre – 5e One-Shot Adventure

The rules are simple: Don’t touch the exhibits. And always exit through the gift shop.

Something strange is happening at Morbeck’s Museum of the Macabre. Everyone who enters—including the museum’s new curator—has vanished without a trace, and the Guild of Historians would very much like to know where they went.

That’s where your party comes in.

Morbeck’s Museum of the Macabre is a horror-mystery one-shot for Dungeons & Dragons 5e, sending your adventurers inside the museum to investigate its exhibits, uncover what happened to its missing visitors, and discover exactly what is lurking within its walls.

Expect a mix of exploration, puzzles, combat, and investigation, with enough humor woven through the horror to keep a night at the museum from becoming entirely grim.

What Awaits Inside

A museum full of unanswered questions. The curator and visitors have disappeared, leaving your party to work out what happened and whether anyone can still be found.

Puzzles and investigation ask players to pay attention and think their way through the museum rather than relying entirely on weapons.

Combat encounters make some of the exhibits considerably less academic than others.

Adjustable horror gives the GM room to lean into the scares or keep the atmosphere lighter depending on the group at the table.

Why We Love It

The museum is made for exploration. Exhibits, rooms, and objects give players plenty of reasons to investigate things that every sensible instinct suggests they should probably leave alone.

Brains matter as much as weapons. Puzzles and mysteries give different kinds of characters—and players—opportunities to shine.

There’s room for levity among the horrors. A little humor keeps the macabre setting playful without taking away its teeth.

And then there are the museum rules. Don’t touch the exhibits. Always exit through the gift shop. Surely a party of adventurers can manage two simple instructions.

Surely.

Adventure Details

System: Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Format: Physical A5 zine, staple-bound
Pages: 9
Style: Horror-mystery one-shot
Focus: Exploration, puzzles, investigation & combat
Adventure Hook: Investigate the disappearance of the museum’s curator and visitors

Please exit through the gift shop.