Judgment at Delphi

For 6 level 8 PCs, 3 to 3.5 hours, 3 encounters. Do not kill Apollo.

Style: Sacred courtroom mystery that turns into a temple siege when the lie sheds its human voice.
Win: The false oracle is exposed, Apollo's shrine remains intact, and the Python-spawn is slain or banished as a monster.
Lose: Delphi accepts a counterfeit judgment; pilgrims riot, priests vanish, and the temple closes under living coils.
Maguffin: Sunlit Tripod Shard · Ally: Ion the Archive Acolyte · QG: Theoxena, Senior Pythia

"A wax tablet with two prophecies: one in clean hexameter, one with the same mistake repeated."

Major Beats

Two prophecies rhyme until one word stains the wax black.
A pilgrim begs for judgment while hiding a knife under laurel leaves.
The tripod shadow points at a wall that starts breathing.
The false voice uses the party's names before anyone speaks them.

Difficulty

Tier	Adjust
As Written ★	6 PCs · APL 8
Library Standard	6 PCs · APL 8 — Identical to As Written — this guide’s baseline is already 6 PCs at average level 8.
Easier	APL 4–6: reduce minion counts ~30%; DCs −2; boss loses one recharge or legendary option.
Harder	APL 10–12: boss HP +25–35%; +1 legendary action; add a lieutenant or extra wave.

ENC 1 — The Pilgrim Docket

Enc. 1 - Civic investigation · ~50 min · Delphi forecourt, laurel queue ropes, offering tables, archive stair, and public judgment dais.

Find 3 clue categories: repeated meter error, bribe route, and smoke residue on forged tablets.
Use Insight, Religion, History, Investigation, or Performance at DC 15.
Public accusations without proof mark the Riot clock and empower zealots.
Recruit Ion by trusting his archive pattern and shielding him from senior-priest suspicion.

ENC 2 — Trial of the Crooked Verse

Enc. 2 - Social proof · ~60 min · Marble hearing hall, bronze tripod, witness benches, smoke vents, and curtained priest doors.

Run a 5-success DC 16 debate using Persuasion, Religion, Insight, History, or Arcana.
Each failure lets a Vapor-Script Daemon alter one memory until challenged by hard evidence.
The Tripod Shard turns one forged statement into a visible crooked shadow.
If the party wins the debate, civilians evacuate before Enc. 3 and Theoxena blesses one save each.

ENC 3 — Coils Around the Omphalos

Enc. 3 - Hard boss fight · ~85 min · Inner sanctuary, cracked omphalos stone, tripod dais, smoke fissures, and living coils sealing exits.

At initiative 20, a coil seals a path, grapples a target, or crushes a pillar for falling debris.
Apollo is absent but sacred law remains: defiling the tripod gives the boss advantage for 1 round.
Maguffin payoff: place the Shard into the tripod to reveal and pin the boss's true head.
Slaying the Python-spawn ends the seal; exposing it first prevents blame falling on Apollo's priests.

STAT BLOCKS

Default: 6 PCs level 8; 3 encounters; 3 to 3.5 hours.
Enc. 1/2 are proof-gathering and social judgment paths.
Do not kill Apollo; the enemy is a Python-spawn monster.
Public accusations without evidence worsen the Riot clock.
Maguffin payoff pins the true boss body in Enc. 3.

Maguffin

Sunlit Tripod Shard

Reveals contradictions in testimony or makes forged prophecies cast crooked shadows.
Set into the cracked tripod to pin the Python-spawn's real body for 1 round.

NPC / ALLY

Theoxena, Senior Pythia

Restore true prophecy before the city condemns innocents under a stolen voice.
She will not permit violence against pilgrims or claims that Apollo himself is the enemy.

Ion the Archive Acolyte

Recruit Enc. Enc. 1 or Enc. 2: Protect him from blame, validate his archive clues, or let him question a priest under supervision.
AC 13 · HP 46 · Bronze lamp +5 to hit, 5 bludgeoning; once per scene, cites a record for advantage on Religion or History.

Remember

The false oracle is exposed, Apollo's shrine remains intact, and the Python-spawn is slain or banished as a monster.

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