The Madhouse of Tasha’s Kiss is a one-shot horror adventure by Remley Farr and Jeff C. Stevens.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a free digital copy of this product.

An Adamantine Best Seller, also available for Roll20 VTT and FantasyGrounds VTT as well as in physical form, this is a horror classic – fitting in perfectly in many different campaigns and settings: Ravenloft, Strahd, or any homebrew that needs a touch of madness.

Primarily aimed for a 5th(ish) level party, but with options for scaling up or down all the way to 10, the story begins when the players find a completely empty village. Only a young boy remains, standing outside of a large wagon and crying – five days ago, every single person in the town entered the wagon to watch Tasha’s Kiss, a renowned jester, and haven’t come out. Obviously, nothing good can come from a clown, so the party must enter the pocket dimension of the Madhouse, and save the townspeople.

There, they’ll find a variety of nightmares. While their first thought might be to slaughter everything they see, there are a variety of ways the players can handle each encounter, including talking things out. This includes the final encounter with Tasha’s Kiss herself – while in that case, combat is inevitable, there’s still a lot of ways it can go. There are a ton of opportunities for roleplaying, as well as making the characters confront their past and their choices (if they have a well-defined backstory – there are a couple of specific parts in the adventure that can be incredibly impactful, but require careful handling). Each encounter is unique and has a ton of care put into it, making them very memorable and impactful – for example, there is a character called Deggmir, the Winnower of Souls: a “soul surgeon” who can carefully extract parts of a soul – or just rip it out completely. The final battle with Tasha’s Kiss is also excellent, with players who were willing to search around and pay attention having some additional tools at their disposal, even affecting the outcome of the fight.

When it comes to horror, there’s a little bit of everything – some body horror, loss of identity and psychological horror, some eldritch stuff, and of course scary clowns, so there’s something for everyone – or something that everyone wants to avoid, so make sure your players are up for that before you hit them with something unexpected. Of course, this makes this adventure perfect for a Halloween session as well – even if we’re still a long way until that, you can keep it in mind.

There are detailed maps for every “room” the players go through, and honestly it might be a good idea for players to keep track of where they’ve gone because there are a lot of doors – everything is interconnected, so they might lose track of where they are and what’s left to explore.

Overall, The Madhouse of Tasha’s Kiss is a must-have for any horror fan, and will definitely be a memorable experience for your players.

This post contains affiliate links. By using them, you support the blog without any extra charge being applied to you.