Troy's Hollow Gift

A level 8 siege infiltration about what victory is allowed to cost.

Style: Siege heist with double agents, civilian stakes, and a construct payload.
Win: Place or sabotage the wooden colossus to end the siege on the party's chosen terms without razing Troy as the victory condition.
Lose: The colossus becomes an excuse for massacre, the party is named as the betrayal, and both armies learn the wrong lesson.
Maguffin: Cedar Heart-Key · Ally: Cassandra, Unbelieved Witness · QG: Sinon, Professional Survivor

"A palm-sized cedar horse opens at the belly. Inside are two maps: one for entry, one for evacuation."

Major Beats

Sinon makes the plan sound simple because he has hidden every consequence.
Cassandra offers truth without the comfort of certainty.
The colossus is a tool; the betrayal is deciding people are only terrain.
The final turn of the heart-key defines what kind of victory survives the song.

Difficulty

Tier	Adjust
As Written ★	6 PCs · APL 10
Library Standard	6 PCs · APL 8 — Dial back: reduce boss HP ~20–25%, cut one legendary action option or recharge breath to 6 only; Favor/track thresholds −1 where present; skill DCs −1.
Easier	APL 8–9: use the Library Standard (6×L8) box, then shave one more minion wave.
Harder	APL 11–12: boss HP +20%; +1 legendary; Favor/track +1 to win.

ENC 1 — The Gift at the Ditch

Enc 1: Siege Heist Briefing · ~45 min · Greek siege ditch, abandoned altar, horse scaffolds, messenger tunnels.

Non-combat path: gather terms from three factions with Insight, Deception, or History.
Use the Cedar Heart-Key to discover the colossus has more modes than Sinon admits.
Recruit Cassandra by honoring her warning or preserving the evacuation map.
Choose a branch: plant, sabotage, delay, or convert the hollow gift.

ENC 2 — Inside the Wall's Shadow

Enc 2: Infiltration and Civic Choice · ~60 min · Gate plaza, inspection ramp, refugee lane, shrine balcony, hollow horse interior.

Non-combat path: 6 stealth or social successes before 3 alarm failures.
Spend successes to open civilian exits, hide raiders, or plant sabotage charges.
Cassandra can identify which omen is fake and which alarm is real.
If the party treats Troy as already doomed, Greek Raiders act with advantage in Encounter 3.

ENC 3 — The Belly Opens

Enc 3: Hard Construct Payoff · ~90 min · Gate court, colossus belly, winch towers, civilian alleys, fire buckets.

Hard fight: the colossus shifts modes between stealth payload, gate ram, and evacuation crane.
Maguffin payoff: insert the Cedar Heart-Key to select or lock the construct's final mode.
Branching win: plant, sabotage, expose, or evacuate, but razing Troy is not the win.
Every spared watch squad or rescued civilian creates a witness who can refute betrayal.

STAT BLOCKS

6 PCs level 8; siege heist with branching payoff.
Enc 1/2 support stealth, social, and sabotage.
Recruit Cassandra by believing the warning.
Enc 3 is Hard; Cedar Heart-Key chooses final mode.
Win is not razing Troy.

Maguffin

Cedar Heart-Key

Opens hidden panels in the colossus, quiets its joints, and grants advantage on one sabotage, repair, or concealment check.
Inserted into the colossus core, it chooses the payoff: open gates, lock the payload, evacuate civilians, or disable the construct.

NPC / ALLY

Sinon, Professional Survivor

Get the colossus through Troy's gates and make sure someone else owns the moral stain if it goes wrong.
He will not enter the horse himself; he always keeps one exit and one scapegoat prepared.

Cassandra, Unbelieved Witness

Recruit Enc. Encounter 1 or 2: Listen without asking her to prove the curse, protect a civilian route she names, or admit the plan may be wrong.
AC 14 · HP 58 · Ritual dagger +6 to hit, 1d4+3 piercing; prophecy imposes disadvantage once.

Remember

Place or sabotage the wooden colossus to end the siege on the party's chosen terms without razing Troy as the victory condition.

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