Flight of the Kipir (Kipine)
A Family-friendly Halloween Themed Adventure
This is a Halloween themed family-friendly adventure for D&D 5e. This adventure relies on role play, exploration, problem-solving. There are opportunities for combat due to random encounters of the Kipine or at the end of the adventure if the characters choose to take the treasure by force.
This adventure was inspired by the artwork of Kipine on Deviant Art, the Homebrew Kipir Race on DnDBeyond, and the Kipine monster by DiceLord on Imgur.
Adventure Hook
News reaches the player caracters that a handsome reward has been offered for the capture of a local thief and the recovery of several, very valuable treasures.
The bustling city of Makersburg has experienced a recent rash of burglaries. Only two witnesses have come forward with descriptions of the thief, both eerily similar. A masked figure with a black cloak was seen leaping from the windows of two locations. When the witnesses ran to the windows, the thief had vanished into thin air. Some victims reported scraping or clawing sounds, the sound of breaking glass as well as the sound of large flapping wings or billowing fabric.
In every case, valuable gold, silver, and bejeweled objects were stolen.
What separates this crime spree from others like it is that all of the locations were on the upper floors of multi-story buildings and the thief always entered through an upstairs window.
City guards and bounty hunters have set up lookout posts on rooftops throughout the city, but they have had no luck in stopping or catching the thief so far.
Our Badguy: The Kipir (Kipine)
The Kipir are both a homebrew monster and a player race in D&D 5e. In this adventure, this extremely rare creature is decorating its nest with treasure stolen from the nearby city.
More about Kipir (Kipine):
“An evolved form of a winged owlbear variant known as a Kipine. Having shed their ‘monstrosity’ rating for a smaller form and a more civilized lifestyle. Pronunciation: Kih-PEER. Kipir stand about 6.5-7 feet tall, and lithe like the elves. They are just as happy walking on their talons as they are flying. Their tough hides are covered in thick fur, black or brown. On their faces, they have feathers instead of fur, generally white.” – Source
“A Kipine’s keen sences afford it a nighttime hunting ability that, when paired with their swift reflexes, give it its reputation as on of natures most notorious natural predators… They prefer to keep to themselves, silently, sneaking about, often stealing ornamental trinkets and gold to hoard in their nests like dragons.” – Source
Party Goals
A group of victims have pooled their resources and offered a 1000 GP reward for the capture of the thief (500 GP) and the return of their stolen property (500 GP).
Roomers and Clues
Each night the players investigate, they will uncover another clue. Roll a 2d6 and consult the chart below. On any even-numbered roll, another robbery occurred during the night.
- A member of the guard witnessed a creature with antlers, bat-like wings and the face of an owl leap out of the window of the latest crime scene. The creature took flight and headed north, out of the city toward the mountains. After hearing this clue the difficulty of all Arcana checks regarding the Kipine drops to DC15.
- Roll twice again. The second time this is rolled, the player characters find that something shiny is missing from their inventory.
- A silversmith reported hearing the sound of breaking glass last night. When he investigated the sound was surprised to find a large gold nugget was left where the thief had stollen an ornate silver serving tray (optionally: bracelet, ring, teapot, stein, or walking cane handle).
NOTE: After hearing this clue, the characters get advantage on all investigation checks related to determining the location of the thief’s hideout. - A bounty hunter was attacked while guarding a rooftop across the street from a jewelry store. He swears that he was attacked by a giant bat with horns and razor-sharp claws.
- A member of the guard spotted a horned figure fly and land on a rooftop on the north end of town, just a block away from last night’s robbery.
- A city guard was attacked while guarding a rooftop last night. He reported being hit from behind and knocked prone. When he rolled over he says a giant bat-like creature, bigger than a man, take flight and disappear into the night sky.
- A guard saw a cloaked figure on the rooftop in the north end of the merchant district. When he tried to get closer, the figure leaped off the roof and the guard lost sight of him.
- A group of men leaving a local tavern reported seeing an owlbear lurking in the shadows of an ally near the edge of town. Frightened by the site, they ran and reported the sighting to the nearest city guard. (give advantage on any arcana roll made after this clue)
- A woman reported seeing a masked man peeping through her window. The mask was white and made of some kind of feathers. It was too dark to make out anything else. The next morning she found that her prized silver and gold necklace was stolen from her bedside table.
- Citizens seeking a piece of the reward have flooded the town guard with dozens of conflicting reports and sightings were reported from all over the city.
- A member of the party witnesses the horned figure take off and fly from a rooftop on the north end of town. Watching carefully, the character is sure that the thief flew directly towards the mountain called El Capitan. The thief disappeared into the black night sky in a matter of seconds.
After receiving any 2 clues regarding the direction of travel for the thief, characters may make an investigation check (DC 15) to determine the direction of the thief’s hideout. On a 20 or greater, the characters will become convinced that the thief is hiding out in one of the old abandoned gold mines or caves near El Capitan, which is a day’s walk from the city.
Complications & Opportunities
- The Kipine nest is in a cave found halfway up a sheer cliff. For this, I suggest this artwork by chateaugrief at DeviantArt
- Upon discovering the Kipine nest, the PCs will find that it is occupied by two leathery Kipine eggs. The nest will always be guarded by one of the two Kipine parents and they will do everything in their power to protect their nest and the eggs.
- The Kipine sleep by day and the male hunts by night, returning with food for the female every evening.
- As the intelligent version of the Kipine, they understand and speak broken common.
- The Kipine know the location of a large vein of gold and they are willing to trade the knowledge for their lives and treasure. Lacking the skills and tools, they have been unable to mine or recover anything more than a few nuggets and a large piece of gold-laced quartz.
Skill Checks
Once the characters arrive at El Capitan, they will need to explore the area to find the lair of the Kipine. If there is a ranger in the party, this is their time to shine.
If characters establish a watch, they have a DC20 perception chance of seeing the Kipine fly in or out of its lair. If the character set a campfire, the Kipine will notice them and use stealth (+5) to come and go from its lair.
Climbing El Capitan
Scaling the cliffs requires 5 out of 8 successful survival or dexterity checks (DC 15) as well as the proper equipment (rope and pitons).
Critical fail (1): the character falls. If they are secured by rope, they suffer 1d10 falling damage when they hit the wall of the cliff. 10 points of damage will also cause them to lose a piece of equipment.
Fail by 10+: the character loses grip and slides down the face of the cliff suffering 1d6 damage. 6 points of damage will also cause them to send rocks falling on PCs below for 1d4 damage each.
Fail by 5-9: the character loses grip and lets out an involuntary scream/curse/yell that echos through the valley.
Fail by 1-4: loose rocks fall from above doing 1d6 damage.
If the characters fail 5 or more out of 8 skill checks, they find the cave is empty when they arrive. No sign that the Kipine ever lived/stayed there.
Appendix: NPC Names and Art
Capitan of the guard: Jerrad Silverman
City Guards:
- Dax
- Jorvin
- Shorty
- Kalib
Burglary Victims:
- Oliver Silverman (Jerrad’s brother)
- Charles Goldsmith
- Laurance deMoney
- Charlene Schmucker
- Gorden Besteck
- Rachel Nach
- Ari Barister
Appendix: Treasure / Magic Items
The Kipine have collected quite the hoard of treasure including:
- 15 silver chain necklaces (5 gp)
- 2 gold necklaces (100 gp)
- 3 gem-encrusted gold necklaces (750 gp)
- 1 master crafted silver tea set (200 gp)
- 1 silver brush, comb & mirror set (10 gp)
- 1 medium silver mirror with bejeweled frame (225 gp)
- 25 silver rings (1 gp ea)
- 1 silver & gold ring (3 gp)
This is actually the Cursed Ring of Wishes. - 9 gold rings (10 gp ea)
- 1 silver owl sculpture, 6″ tall ( 175 gp)
- 200 misc. pieces of silverware (100 gp)
- Serpentine Owl
Appendix: Maps
For this adventure, I recommend a good city map and a cave map for the Kipine lair. The city map can be used. to point out where events happen and allow players to decide where they will hunt for the thief. The mountain El Capitan is a day’s walk from the city using the old mining road. It is overgrown but easy to follow. The players will not need a map for this part of the adventure.
4 Responses
Enjoyed every bit of your blog article. Thanks Again. Cool.
I was looking for an adventure for my 5 year old nephew, and I was absolutely gobsmacked to find this. My friend and I created the Kipir race! I am so excited to see a campaign using them! Thank you.
Wow, I never thought anyone would have seen my Kipir race. If you don’t mind, though, could you use the DnD Beyond page for the race instead? DnD Wiki and I have had…disagreements and they have stolen certain aspects of my intellectual property. (Also Kipir are always born as twins, there should be two eggs) ^-^
CallMeKes: Yes, I would be happy to update the link. Thanks for stopping by and letting me know. I’m always want to give the proper credit.