The Mill of Midas

Major Beats

1. A child tries to trade a golden apple for bread no one can eat.
2. Midas speaks through a door with both hands tied in linen.
3. A market bell turns to gold mid-ring and keeps vibrating.
4. The millstone whispers prices for every heroic compromise.

Difficulty

Creature / Enemy List

DM Tips

• As Written ★ — 6 Players, Average Level 7: Baseline for this guide. Numbers, DCs, and win tracks assume six PCs at average level 7.
• Easier: APL 5–6: −1 elite; boss loses one recharge attack.
• Harder: APL 8–9: +1 elite; boss recharge improves by 1 step.

Ally snapshot

Encounter 1 — Quarantine at the Saffron Gate

• Run a 4-success DC 15 challenge with Persuasion, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, or Stealth.
• Failures increase the Riot clock; at 3 marks the Gilded Panic Mob surges.
• Clay Loaf reveals curse-tracks from touched bread to the royal mill.
• Recruit Philon by protecting civilians or using him as a guide instead of a scapegoat.
• Tip: Medium Humanoid, Neutral · Recruitable Ally · Fence, street guide, and reluctant public witness
• Tip: RECRUITMENT (Enc. Enc. 1 or Enc. 2). Protect his sister's stall, expose a profiteer, or promise amnesty for his quarantine smuggling.
• Tip: Aid. Acts on party initiative when recruited; prefers nonlethal when asked.

Encounter 2 — The Counting House Crawl

• Three clue nodes: contaminated flour, Midas's sealed apology, and coin dust from the millstone.
• Stealth can bypass Wardens; social proof can convert them into a noisy distraction.
• Auric Homunculi flee toward the mill unless boxed in by clever positioning.
• A cursed object touched barehanded requires DC 15 Constitution save or disadvantage on Dexterity checks until cleansed.
• Tip: Medium Humanoid, Neutral · Recruitable Ally · Fence, street guide, and reluctant public witness
• Tip: RECRUITMENT (Enc. Enc. 1 or Enc. 2). Protect his sister's stall, expose a profiteer, or promise amnesty for his quarantine smuggling.
• Tip: Aid. Acts on party initiative when recruited; prefers nonlethal when asked.

Encounter 3 — Midas at the Grinding Stone

• Midas is a protected objective: if isolated and spoken to, he spends his turn resisting the curse.
• At initiative 20, the millstone golds one object, exit, or 10-foot floor patch unless disrupted.
• Maguffin payoff: feed the Clay Loaf into the stone or Midas's hands to make the curse vulnerable for 1 round.
• Victory can be cure, containment, or shattering the possessing Avarice; murdering Midas counts as a bitter loss.

DM Callouts

• Medium Humanoid, Neutral · Recruitable Ally · Fence, street guide, and reluctant public witness
• RECRUITMENT (Enc. Enc. 1 or Enc. 2). Protect his sister's stall, expose a profiteer, or promise amnesty for his quarantine smuggling.
• Aid. Acts on party initiative when recruited; prefers nonlethal when asked.
• Medium Humanoid, Neutral · Recruitable Ally · Fence, street guide, and reluctant public witness

Extra Encounter Detail (from session guide)

• Tip: Keep page-3 creature AC/HP lines visible while resolving Enc. 3.
• Tip: Favor non-combat paths in Enc. 1–2; Enc. 3 should still feel Hard.

Quick combat reference

• Philon the Coin-Shaver — AC 14 | HP 52 | Speed 30 ft. · Medium Humanoid, Neutral · Recruitable Ally · Fence, street
• Gilded Panic Mob — AC 12 | HP 88 | Speed 30 ft. · Medium Creature · CR 4 · Hazardous crowd
• Auric Homunculus — AC 16 | HP 44 | Speed 30 ft. · Medium Creature · CR 3 · Curse scout
• Goldmask Bread Wardens — AC 17 | HP 95 | Speed 30 ft. · Medium Creature · CR 5 · Elite quarantine enforcers
• Avarice in the Millstone — AC 18 | HP 172 | Speed 40 ft. · Large Creature · CR 9 · Boss, possessing curse engine · Boss

Additional DM notes

• Motivation.** Save her husband and the market quarter without starting a riot or inviting a coup.
• Secret.** Midas ordered the mill reopened after the first warning because the city needed bread.
• Hard rule.** She will not sanction murdering Midas while a cure remains possible.
• Appearance:** A heavy gray loaf that smells like rain, ash, and honest work.
• Handout.** "Gold cannot eat. Gold cannot knead. Feed the king what wealth refuses."
• Enc. 1–2.** Absorbs one minor golding effect or reveals fresh curse-tracks as dull clay footprints.
• Enc. 3.** Pressed into the millstone or Midas's hands, it gives the party one round to redirect the curse into earth.
• 12 (+1)**STR**14 (+2)**DEX**12 (+1)**CON**12 (+1)**INT**14 (+2)**WIS**16 (+3)**CHA
• Role:** Fence, street guide, and reluctant public witness
• RECRUITMENT (Enc. Enc. 1 or Enc. 2).** Protect his sister's stall, expose a profiteer, or promise amnesty for his quarantine smuggling.

Pacing helpers

• Enc 1: End by ~45–50 min; if stuck, telegraph the non-combat path once.
• Enc 2: Spend recruitment / maguffin early so Enc 3 is not a blank check.
• Enc 3: Keep Hard, not Deadly — drop a minion wave before a TPK spiral.
• Table tip: Restate win condition when HP dips; players often forget the maguffin.

STAT BLOCKS

Session reminders

• Default: 6 PCs level 8; 3 encounters; 3 to 3.5 hours.
• Enc. 1/2 support social, stealth, and investigation solutions.
• Midas is best cured or contained, not murdered.
• Golded creatures are restrained or cursed, not automatically dead.
• Maguffin payoff exposes the curse engine in Enc. 3.

Maguffin

NPC / ALLY

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