The Drowned Abbot's Vigil

How they win

At least one character is still standing on the bell platform when the tide turns at the end of round 6. Killing the wight early ends the bell and the frightened effect, but the ghouls keep coming until the water drops.

How they lose

Everyone is down, paralyzed or dragged below the waterline. The survivors wash up on the causeway at dawn, stripped of whatever they were carrying, and the abbot's bell is heard in the village that night.

The clock

How long: 6 rounds
What happens each round of it: At the top of each round the water rises another step up the tower stair. Round 1: the ghouls surface in the nave. Round 3: the wight, Abbot Maerlin, climbs out of the flooded crypt and starts ringing the drowned bell below (each ring: every living creature within 60 feet makes a DC 13 Wisdom save or is frightened until the end of its next turn). Round 4: the Gloamtide Anglerhound's lure appears in the black water at the foot of the stair. Round 5: the lowest landing floods; anything standing on it is restrained by the current (DC 13 Strength to act).
When it runs out: At the end of round 6 the tide turns. The water drains off the causeway, the ghouls sink back into the nave, and the anglerhound follows the water out. The wight fights on alone if it is still standing, but it will not leave the abbey.

The opening scene

The party reaches the top of the bell tower just as the causeway floods behind them. Below, the nave is black water. The bell rings once on its own. Then pale hands come out of the water on the stair, and the first ghoul starts climbing.

What they are up against

Creatures in this encounter
2×	Ghoul	CR 1
1×	Wight	CR 3
1×	Gloamtide Anglerhound	CR 6

4 creatures in total. Names that are links open their stat block.

How it behaves

The ghouls come up the stair two abreast and go for whoever is closest to the edge, trying to paralyze and drag them down into the water. The wight stays below and rings the bell until round 4, then climbs, using Life Drain on anyone frightened. The anglerhound never leaves the water; it uses its lure to draw a charmed creature down the stair and bites anything that steps onto the flooded landing. None of them pursue past the high-water line.

The ground

Features and cover: A spiral stair of 40 steps climbs to a bell platform 30 feet across with a waist-high stone parapet (half cover). The great bell hangs overhead on a rotten beam; a creature can cut it loose with 15 slashing damage, dropping it on the landing below (4d10 bludgeoning, DC 14 Dexterity save for half). Two arrow slits look over the flooded nave.
Hazards: Rising seawater, slick steps (difficult terrain below the platform), the falling bell
Light: Dim moonlight on the platform; darkness below, except for the anglerhound's lure

Rules it is built for

If you use a flooding or underwater-combat variant, apply it to the lowest landing only. Saint Ondine's Reliquary Lantern, if the party found it, stops the wight turning invisible and makes the anglerhound's lure visible for what it is.

Making it fit your table

For four level 5 characters, drop the anglerhound and add two more ghouls in round 4. For level 9, add a second wight in round 2 and raise the bell's save to DC 15. For a smaller party, start the clock at 5 rounds.

What they find

Ring of Necrotic Resistance
Potion of Necrotic Resistance