The Godmakers' Growing Pains is a One-Shot adventure for D&D for a party of 3-5 players of level 6-8. The adventure is based around puzzle-solving and character interaction with one possible combat encounter and takes around two hours.

Plot summary:
Every seventeen years, the world is put into grave danger as new, terrifying gods are forged, often more powerful than the Titans. The task of disrupting this birthing process is incredibly notorious among adventurers - not because it is dangerous or difficult, but because of how achingly monotonous and annoying it is. The Kuo-toa, a race of humanoid fish from the Underdark, have the capability to create gods through the power of belief alone. Every seventeen years, a new generation of Kuo-toa is hatched, and, being terrible parents, the Kuo-toa usually create new gods at the very first sign of a crisis. Having drawn the short straw, the party must travel to the underwater city of the Kuo-toa to make sure the hatching goes without a hitch. If they fail, it may mean the end of the world.

Opening:
Spoiler
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If the party has an established employer, they should introduce them to Kazuu, an Ilithid with the responsibility of keeping the Kuo-toa's god-making powers under control. The employer trusts Kazuu to be forthcoming with pertinent details and is a reputable and trustworthy businessman. If they do not have such an employer, they should be approached by Kazuu. Kazuu is a very serious person with no time to waste. If the party proves to not be capable or trustworthy (or simply annoys them), he will leave without a second thought to find somebody else to take the job. Kazuu will explain the situation as follows:

"The Kuo-toa are fish-like creatures with the ability to create gods through the power of belief. They can willingly summon these gods in times of crisis, and we are rapidly approaching the greatest time of crisis in a Kuo-toa's adult life: the birth of their young. Every seventeen years, the Kuo-toa lay eggs which slowly grow and develop until they hatch just in time for the next egg-laying seventeen years later. Kuo-toa are a race of slaves, and have no instinctual ability to care for their own young. As such, they are absolutely terrible parents. At the first sign of something going awry, the community will almost certainly produce a new god to deal with the problem. Luckily for us, all remaining Kuo-toa have been relocated to a single city: Kuo-toa Town, at the bottom of the ocean. It is your duty to enter the town and solve as many problems as you can. If the town is too panicked, they will assuredly birth a new god, and we cannot risk such things."

Kazuu will give them a map of the town, as well as the identity of the Kuo-toa chieftain: Chief Flava, the most educated and agreeable of the Kuo-toa, who will assess the issues facing the town for the party. Kuo-toa town is a small community of 500 members, with 10 couples being new parents in the current hatching. If the party is able to solve the problems of 5 of these 10 couples, the crisis will be averted. If the party fails to achieve this number, there is a risk of a new god being born, with each additional struggling couple adding to the strength of that god. Kazuu cannot accompany them to Kuo-toa Town, as the Kuo-toa have a natural hatred of their former masters.

If the party is incapable of psychic communication and sustained breathing underwater, Kazuu will offer an Ilithid tadpole to each party member. When bonded with the brain stem of a humanoid, they are granted lesser psychic abilities and the ability to breathe underwater. However, if not removed within two weeks, they will devour the brain of the host and the host will become a new Ilithid. Kazuu promises to remove the tadpole before they fully bind to the brain. This gives a deadline of return of two weeks. The reward for the mission should be a large amount of gold for the party. For my party, that comes out to 3000 gp each, but Kazuu is a skillful barterer and will attempt to pay the absolute minimum that the party is willing to work for.

The process of the tadpole entering the skull and burrowing to the brain stem is incredibly painful, regardless of orifice. After conn

The hatching will commence in two days, and heading out to Kuo-toa Town will require a one-day boat ride. Kazuu has a yacht to accommodate the trip, but he bills the party for anything missing from the bar.

The party must be able to swim incredibly proficiently (having an at least +6 to Athletics) in order to swim freely underwater. Otherwise, they may walk along the bottom if sufficiently weighed down with 50 percent of their body weight in gear. While walking along the bottom of the ocean, they are under "difficult terrain". Keep in mind that they are underwater throughout the course of this adventure.

Spoiler: The Issues at Hand
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Arriving in Town:
Kuo-toa Town is at the bottom of an ocean chasm, built in the ruins of an ancient sunken city which stretches for miles, roughly analogous to Atlantis. While the majority of the ruins are made from broken white marble shrouded by the darkness of the deep sea, Kuo-toa town is a colorful little town built in the center of the former metropolis, covered in paintings made of bioluminescent algae and specifically tended coral. The Kuo-toa go about their daily business, tending to their algae and coral gardens, hunting whales and sharks, and spending several hours debating law and order in the central plaza. When the party arrives, the town is mostly asleep, barring the chief and the 10 couples, who are gathered in the plaza, each couple yelling about their problems to the chief, who is clearly in distress. Upon noticing the party, chief Flava eagerly takes the chance to alleviate himself of the situation. While all other Kuo-toa simply release psychic screams resembling Undercommon, Chief Flava psychically speaks Common. He will thank the party for coming, and asks them to address the issues presented before all of the couples. He doesn't want a god-birthing scenario, and he'll offer a bonus of a secret treasure if the party can resolve all 10 couple's issues within the week, before the mating season begins. The couples can be addressed in any order, and they do not need to be resolved immediately, so long as the issue is resolved within the week. Chief Flava will translate Undercommon for the party, and has nothing better to do with his time than help out. Although well-meaning and compassionate, Chief Flava is an idiot, and cannot offer solutions to the problems. He also just wants what resolves the issue, and has no moral qualms with any solutions the party proceeds with as long as none of the children are harmed.

The chief explains the situation to the couples and they move into the nursery, where the children are being held. The nursery is a large building with 10 cribs lined in a circle around a magical fire. The cribs are bolted to the floor and covered with a tarp, concealing the child inside until the tarp is removed. The parents will become hostile if a child is approached without their permission, with the exception of couples 1 and 7. The area under the crib is concealed with curtains attached to the bottom of the crib, and the crib is bolted to the floor.

Couple 1:
Couple 1 are divorcees. They forgot that they had even laid the egg 17 years prior and got a divorce soon after. However, neither parent wants custody over the child, as being a parent forbids you from engaging in the mating season, and they both have new mates. Neither parent will be satisfied with having the child, and they refuse to share custody and forfeit their mating rights. Only a wedded couple may take on the custody of a child, and there's no couples outside of the other 9 who are willing to forfeit mating rights. The divorcees still have feelings for one another that can be rekindled with a DC 15 persuasion check. The child can be grabbed and removed from the nursery so long as the Chief is busy with a DC 15 stealth check.

If the child is killed, the couple will be exiled from the town, and will likely die in the harsh ocean wilderness. However, if nobody in the town finds out that child was killed, or it seems like an accident, they won't be exiled.

The problem will be solved as long as both parents are satisfied with the situation: there is no more child, somebody else excepts parentage, or they fall back in love and take custody of the child.

Couples 2 and 3:
Couples 2 and 3 are having a dispute over which child is which. During the 17 year hatching process, couple 2 is convinced the eggs were swapped. Couple 3 disagrees. The children themselves look nearly identical, but couple 2 claims their child has "the wrong smell". A DC 15 investigation check will reveal the eye colors of the children match with their purported parents perfectly. A DC 10 perception check will reveal that the child smells absolutely terrible, like fecal matter. The child simply needs their diaper changed. With a DC 10 Animal Handling check, the party can change the child's diaper. On a fail, the child will bite the hand of the attempting party member, doing 6 piercing damage. It will take a DC 15 Persuasion check to get couple 2 to change the diaper. Once it has been changed and the child is re-smelled, couple 2 will be satisfied. Couple 3 will be convinced to swap children with a suitable lie and a DC 15 deception check.

The problem will be solved if couple 2 is convinced to take their child by the eye colour or the smell after the changing of the diaper or if couple 3 is convinced to swap children.

Couple 4:
Couple 4 has lost track of their child, and believes them to be hiding somewhere in the nursery. It takes a DC 15 perception check to reveal the child is hidden under a crib. Anyone attempting to reach under the crib will receive a bite from the child for 6 piercing damage. The child can be removed with a DC 15 Constitution save on a bite, or it can be lured out with meat. The shops are selling suitable meat for a few silver, and catching suitable fish would take a DC 15 Survival check. Alternatively, if the party has any meat on them already (like in the rations offered by the Adventurer's Pack), they may use that to lure out the child.

The problem is solved if the child is retrieved and given back to the couple.

Couple 5:
Couple 5's egg has yet to hatch. With a DC 15 Nature check, the egg can be examined and revealed to be unfertilized. The couple will refuse to accept that the egg won't hatch, and will refuse to speak to the party if the party attempts to tell them otherwise. They are, however, willing to adopt another child if asked about it, with a suitable persuasion check of DC 10.

The problem will be solved if the couple is convinced to adopt another child.

Couple 6:
Couple 6's child won't stop screaming, and will be heard as soon as the party enters the nursery. They don't know what's wrong with it, but the child is hungry and can be sated with meat such as the suitable lure for couple 4's child.

The problem will be solved if the screaming stops.

Couple 7:
Couple 7's child has been kidnapped. They refuse to give more than a location, but will elaborate on the details with a DC 15 intimidation or persuasion check. The child was abducted by a loan shark who is ransoming the child for 1000 gold. The loan shark is a Charcharion, a literal shark person, who lives in a cave just out of town and speaks Common. See "The Loan Shark" section for the encounter.
The problem will be solved if the child is retrieved.

Couple 8:
Couple 8's child is underweight, and they want couple 4's child. As couple 4 lost track of their child, it would only take a DC 15 deception check to swap the children around. If couple 4's child has already been taken home, it will take a stealth check of DC 15 to break into the house and swap the child. The child can also be brought up to weight with an Enlarge Creature, Enlarge Person, Major Image (or any such illusion spell).

The problem will be solved if couple 8 has a suitably weighted child, whether this means couple 4's child, illusionary weight gain, or magical weight gain.

Couple 9:
Couple 9 can't think of a name for the child. They won't take any suggestions without a DC 15 deception, persuasion, or intimidation check to make them accept the name given by the party.

The problem will be solved if the child has a name.

Couple 10:
Couple 10 is a widower who is panicking over not being able to take care of the child on their own.

The problem will be solved if somebody else takes custody of the child or if the father is convinced that they are capable of parenting.

When the party decides to give up, seven days pass, or all of the problems are resolved, Chief Flava thanks them for their efforts. If 5 couples are satisfied, they may return without consequence. If fewer, then it might spell the end of the world. If the party leaves and a god is summoned, don't give immediate consequences. The party may return to Kazuu and lie that they succeeded in their mission and get the full reward. Dealing with that new god will have to be an issue for another adventure.

If all problems are resolved, Chief Flava will reward the party with the secret treasure: a mystical "very shiny rock" with unknown properties. It's a three-pound, round, blue stone that's very shiny. Whether or not this rock does anything is up to you.



Spoiler: The Loan Shark:
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The Loan Shark's den is in a cave outside of town. From the outside, the rough cave is clearly lit in the interior. Upon entering the cave, the Loan Shark is instantly aware of the party's presence and the lights inside will immediately be snuffed. The party will be greeted by four Sea Hags, the posse of the Loan Shark, demanding to know their business. They can be scared off or persuaded to call in the Loan Shark to meet them. The Loan Shark demands 1000 gold for the child. If the payment is made, one of the hags will retrieve the child and the Loan Shark and posse will return to the den without problem.

The Loan Shark:
Armor Class 14 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 52 (7d8+21)
Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.
STR 18 (+4)
DEX 12 (+1)
CON 16 (+4)
INT 10 (+0)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 14 (+2)
Senses: Blindsight 60 Ft., passive Perception 20
Languages: Aquan, Undercommon, Common
Challenge: 2 (450 XP)
Water-breathing: The Loan Shark can only breathe water.
Blood Frenzy: The Loan Shark has advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature that doesn't have all its hit points.

Actions:
Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage.
Charging Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 60 feet, one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 +4) piercing damage. Triggers attacks of opportunity from hostiles along its charging path. The target must make a DC 14 Strength Save or be grappled in its teeth. For each turn the target starts in the grapple, they take another 13 (2d8 +4) piercing damage.


I'm about to use this with my D&D group, tell me any thoughts you all have or how I can improve it.