A barque with a bark; or, You can't be Sirius! Another day, another kidnap victim to rescue - but this victim has four feet and likes old soup bones. An adventure with some bite. Sir Veneti of Chardon's prize mastiff was stolen just before the city's mastiff duel. He knows that it was his biggest rival, Sir Machi. Sir Veneti needs the party to seize Sirius, the mastiff, from a ship called Gale's Teeth. What the party doesn't know is that a pirate stranged in town is also planning a heist on this ship the very same night that they plan to steal back the mastiff! This adventure has opportunities for both combat and roleplaying, and allows for multiple ways for the players to finish the adventure. Pgs. 32-38

The trouble began several weeks ago when a duergar excavation team went to work in a long-abandoned temple. Drawn to the temple by stories of riches and artifacts, the duergar hired several giants as laborers before cracking the temple’s sealed doors. The largest of the giants, a loathsome Thursir mutant named Huppo, used his acidic vomit to expedite tunneling into the temple’s collapsed hall of worship. Then, Huppo found the horn—an unusual instrument made from a single piece of stone, with a mouthpiece so intricate only a master carver could have made it. The horn became the giant’s obsession. Seeing only the horn’s potential sale value, the dwarves demanded Huppo turn it over to them, but Huppo refused. To force compliance, the dwarves stopped feeding the gluttonous brute, but Huppo had already found his own source of food; in deep areas of the temple, worms were chewing out of the rocks, and Huppo ate them by the fistful. He also played the horn. Then, after several days of blowing the horn and devouring the strange worms, Huppo released a belch so noxious the dwarves had no choice but to lock him in a sealed chamber and carefully consider their next move. The horn’s call, however, had caught the attention of passing nomadic orcs. They set up camp outside the temple entrance in the hope of finding the horn and its player. That’s the current situation at the temple: the giant refuses to stop blowing the horn and belching out deadly clouds of stomach gas; the dwarves are frightened and edgy while their leader is obsessed with malevolent whispers; orcs are threatening to overrun the place; and the population of worms grows steadily as something awakens deep in the stone beneath the sanctuary of belches.

A handful of would-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, an era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom. "The Whispering Cairn" is the first installment of the Age of Worms Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures, several "Backdrop" articles to help Dungeon masters run the series, and a handful of poster maps of key locations. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Worm Food" articles, a series that provides additional materials to help players survive this campaign. Pgs. 14-47

For the past several days, dozens of strong earthquakes have rocked the coastal area surrounding the underground Temple of Poseidon. Since the first quake, there have been a growing number of reports of strange events and macabre occurrences throughout the area. Several families near the temple have abandoned their farms and refused to return. They claim to have been terrorized by inhuman specters who prowled about their farms late at night. One of the farmers says he found a farm animal crucified and eviscerated in a ritualistic fashion on his front porch. Following the first tremors, all communications with the Temple of Poseidon, seemingly the center of the troubled area, were cut off. Messengers dispatched to the temple to request guidance from the Holy Oracle located there have not returned. Now the darkness has spread to this town. Unnatural births have occurred. Strange cries can be heard in the night, and there is a cowl around the moon. Magical divining has proven useless in naming the dark forces that invade. Many of the townspeople have already abandoned their homes and those who remain have but one recourse left: They have sent out a cry for hardened adventurers, experienced in dispatching evil. They must travel to the temple to discover the fate of the men there, and, if possible, elicit their help in destroying the growing heinous power. Pgs. 31-46

A tribe of evil norkers led by a human illusionist threaten the town of Nolivari. The heroes must brave the wilderness, find Grakhirt's lair, and defeat him to ensure the safety of the local villagers. A straightforward dungeon crawl against lots of norkers! When do you get to see those guys in an adventure? Lots of monsters from the AD&D Monster Manual II as well. This adventure features a little bait-and-switch; the titular bad guy Grakhirt is assumed to be a norker, or gnoll, or some other monstrous humanoid, but is in fact a human illusionist/assassin! Note: The adventure doesn't feature caves AND a dungeon, but since the caves are treated like a dungeon with doors and numbered rooms, this is listed as a dungeon adventure as well. Pgs. 28-37

A missing mage... A ruthless band of kidnappers... A sinister conspiracy... Night Below, the first epic campaign adventure for the AD&D game, is designed to take the player characters from 1st level to 10th level and beyond. The PCs start as beginning adventures on a routine courier mission who soon become drawn into combating a sinister plot that menaces the pleasant land of Haranshire.

Two common elements mixed together create deadly peril. The last dungeon that many heroes will ever see. This dungeon crawl was based on the original S1 Tomb of Horrors. This is not an adventure for neophyte adventurers. Many traps, puzzles, and monsters exist to kill the party. However, the treasure of the mud sorcerers may be too tempting to pass by! Pgs. 50-70

The adventure takes players from a town devastated by an unexpected flood, through a drowned land where nature is turned upside down and desperate families cling to the roofs of their ruined homes, hiding from the monstrous products of a disordered world, through the strange tomb of an ancient race, to a profundal zone, hidden for millennia and now exposed, and finally to the Observatory itself, an eerie abandoned treasure palace, where they will encounter a pale and unexpected terror which will seek to claim their lives. The adventure is suitable for a lucky mid-range party, a stupid high-level party or an exceedingly clever low level party. It is difficult, with a meaningful possibility of character death. Should you find them, and defeat their guardians, the treasures of an ancient culture will be yours. At the final point of the Observatory is a glimpse of another world. Published by False Machine Publishing

What happened to the signal tower? What waits for you in the misty mountains? The mayor of the town of Four Trails hires you to find the missing magic user, Delea the White! Delea was tasked with improving the signal tower at Eddistone Point. After leaving with her party of dwarven mercenaries, the mayor received a message from Delea's familiar; a white crow with a note scrawled in charcoal; "Bandits in the tower! Help!" The tower is straightforward, five levels, each a single room. There's a bait-and-switch where the players think the half-orc bandit leader is the bad guy, but an innocuous-seeming vagabond is actually a powerful illusionist. No monsters to speak of, only class-based NPCs, no magic apart from a ring of protection (not listed in this record, being equivalent to magic armor.) Pgs. 19-27

Years ago the valley was green, and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day a warrior riding a red dragon appeared in the skies over the princess’ castle and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous ruby still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess TSR 9044

"The creatures are just too intelligent, too crafty, and too strategy-minded to "rampage." Rampaging brings the wrath of oath-bound knights, powerful mages, and divinely-protected priests. Why would a dragon want such attention, unless it had some special secret, or unless it was insane? Or both. The northern reaches of the Derideth Swamp were once plagued by a rampaging dragon. This black dragon, named Storamere, took a mad glee in attacking human villages, wiping out orc camps, driving off the lizardfolk, and decimating farmland. He met his untimely end, though, in an ambush devised by the monks of the Order of St. Chausle. Storamere died with a curse upon his draconic tongue: "you could not have defeated me in my lair," he told his slayers. "I am forever invincible in my lair." Now Storamere is back, with a horde of his misshapen half-dragon offspring, to have his vengeance. All that remains of the once-heroic monks are two old men driven mad by their last encounter with the black dragon, so it falls to a band of adventurers to again defeat the mighty dragon -- this time in his palace, where the boastful Storamere claims he is at his strongest." Includes maps and damage rules for navigating Storamere's lair, a semi-solid palace made of a dangerous, corrosive liquid five feet thick and located on the ethereal plane. Most of the monsters in the lair have the Half-Dragon template applied. Published by Atlas Games

"Deeptown lies in the shadow of mountains, a town where anything is for sale if you can only meet the price. But in the wild surrounding valleys of the Deeps, it's the bandits who make the darkest deals - and their ambition comes at a cost far greater than the contents of any wayward caravan. You and your team have just been handed a new job: disrupt a meeting between a bandit lord and his mysterious new allies. At a remote mountain villa, you will strike hard and fast and leave terror in your wake. They give you the tools. You provide the talent. Survive, and you'll be well rewarded. Fail, and you'll pay the price. You've got three days to raise some hell." This was one of the first third party adventures under the OGL for 3rd edition published by Atlas Games under the Penumbra line. The attack on the mansion is not a dungeon crawl, but feels like a commando raid aided by some unique magic items.

Chaos reigns outside Roslof Keep, and the spread of the violet corruption runs deep within Mithelvarn's Dungeon. Now, the Company of the Ivory Scimitar must not only face the challenges of the Roslof delve, but will also find the dangers of the Kelmalin Wildlands must be overcome as well if they are ever to get to the bottom of the deadly plague that ravages the land. Time is running out, and only those brave enough will be able to face the horrors of the Glade of the Burning Dead and the dark recesses of The Hill. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.

Within an ancient necropolis a pool of alien slime grasps the minds and bodies of the people of Exag with wispy tendrils of madness. Those transformed by its power invariably seek the crypt, but what fell power draws them there? Part two of the Seeds of Sehan campaign arc. Pgs. 26-41

Looks can lie as well as words. Magical minotaurs? Mutant giants? Vampires? One or more of these is preying upon the caravans, and you're going to stop them. A band of ogre magi took over an abandoned dwarven stronghold and have started ambushing merchant caravans. Their leader, Krugii, wants to gain enough power to eventually control a kingdom. In his quest for power, he has bonded a young bronze dragon and has accelerated its growth. The ogre mages all have different personalities and different forms that they prefer to polymorph into. The PCs are hired to take a caravan through Deception Pass and protect it against the random monsters that have been marauding lately (actually ogre mages in disguise). After protecting the caravan, the players track the attacks back to the stronghold of the ogre magi and clear it out. Pgs. 40-62

Things are darkest before they go totally black. He wears black, hires orcs, and looks depraved - but don't be fooled. He's far more dangerous than he seems. Thaddigren Dentiata recently arrived in the village of Sisak, and within 3 months had constructed a great tower on the outskirts. The villagers have become more wary of him, since he employs the help of orc henchment (albeit polite ones), and also is suspected of using dark magic. Since then, livestock has begun disappearing from the surrounding pastures, and two drunk men fell upon a terrible fate when they went to investigate the tower secretly. One was killed and the other remains missing. The villagers have confronted Dentiata, but he and his henchmen politely turned aside their questioning. The players arrive just after one of the town elders was taken by orcs from the village after trying in vain to rally the rest of the townspeople. The players will spend some time in the village gathering information and then attack the tower itself, ending in a final battle with the evil wizard. The module provides details on all buildings in the town as well as all NPCs and stores. Pgs. 6-24

Abandon hope early and avoid the rush. A rebel leader is locked in a prison from which there is no escape. That's why the rebels called for you. The players are recruited to help rescue a prisoner of the Theocracy. The prison is very unique in that the cells are situated in a wheel formation. The prisoners are forced to push against their cell walls every day until after 1 full year (1 full rotation of the wheel), an opening appears in their cell and they are free to leave. There are many paths to success in this adventure, and it can play out more like a heist rather than a dungeon crawl. Pgs. 24-37

"Terror by night! The village of Orlane is dying. Once a small and thriving community, Orlane has become a maze of locked doors and frightened faces. Strangers are shunned, trade has withered. Rumors flourish, growing wilder with each retelling. Terrified peasants flee their homes, abandoning their farms with no explanation. Others simply disappear. . . No one seems to know the cause of the decay -- why are there no clues? Who skulks through the twisted shadows of the night? Who or what is behind the doom that has overtaken the village? It will take a brave and skillful band of adventurers to solve the dark riddle of Orlane!" TSR 9063

Never try to catch a falling star. A bad seed has been planted in the dark soil of Ravenloft, and now it's time to harvest the crops. A comet has fallen from the sky outside of the town of Delmunster, and the people of this sleepy little village are changing in ways their families cannot explain. The players are on the clock to find the comet and stop its influence on the town. For every day the players take to solve the mystery, another townsperson falls under the sway of the comet. A story heavy influenced by a certain horror movie about pod people. Pgs. 48-68

Sinister Forces Terrorize a Town The town of Brindinford is in the midst of its annual street fair. Joy and merriment abound - until calamity disrupts the celebration. Are rival gangs responsible? Is the government sliding into tyranny? Or is a nightmarish plot about to come to fruition? "The Speaker in Dreams" is a stand-alone adventure for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. Player characters are in for a wild ride in this river town. Leave the dungeon behind: the terrors lurking in Brindinford are more challenging by far! In The Speaker in Dreams, the town of Brindinford is besieged by evil forces under the command of Ghaerleth Axom. A street fair is interrupted by an attack, which serves as a distraction for the villain's forces to attack the keep of the local baron. This provides an entry point for the player characters into the main quest to discover the secret alliances trying to take over the town. The Speaker in Dreams is an event-based, rather than site-based, adventure.