The set-up is interesting in a way – the PCs are plain folks of the Vale, everyday people, and the module begins promising, with the Thor-ordained sporty trek around the vale that inevitably results in trouble. The module, obviously, tries to chronicle the step from everyday-Joe/Jane to hero and the tidbits on culture provided are intriguing. But this, as much as I’m loathe to say it, is one of the worst modules FGG has ever released. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t expect Mr. Ward’s pen at work here. Let me elaborate: The premise, is unique and hasn’t been done much recently, but it suffers from this being an adventure – to properly invest the players in the setting a closer gazetteer, nomenclature, suggested roles and origins for casting talent – all of that should have been covered. They’re not. Worse, everything here is a) clichéd and b) a non-threat in the great whole of things.
Desperately needed supplies have failed to arrive at the suffering frontier settlement of Ravendale. Rumors are flying that the supply wagon must have fallen afoul of the legendary troll of Stonebottom bridge. The townsfolk are in desperate need of heroes to reclaim their supplies or the town won't survive the encroaching winter! A 2-4 hour adventure for four to six players of 1st or 2nd level characters
A bargain struck between a dwarf chieftain and a great divine power forms the heart of this adventure. The chieftain, unwilling to step down from her position as ruler, seeks a way to hide from the god. When the party rescues some of her kin, they are offered riches for recovering a long lost magical shroud with the power to obscure mortals from the eyes of the gods. But recovering the shroud draws the attention of the god’s agents, and the party must choose a side. In this storied and fate-filled adventure for eleventh-level and up PCs, the party must battle their way through a ruined dwarven armory before deciding the fate of the chieftain.
The PCs answer a call for heroes by the Church of Traladara, asking for help in finding an ancient relic- the Shield of Halav. This is located in a lost temple, and the PCs must locate this temple, and brave its dangers to recover the shield before two competing teams from other churches find it first. Part one involves setting up the adventure, doing research, following clues, and discovering the site of the lost temple. Part two; once the site is known (ruins under a modern town) the heroes must travel there and find the entrance. Part three is braving the lost temple, filled with traps, puzzles, and other dangers, to find the missing shield, and then culminating in a climatic showdown with the completing teams.
The Fate of Faerûn Lies in Shadowy Darkness! Daggerdale is reeling from a sudden series of murderous drow raids. As a grave threat to the entire surface world develops in the war-torn dark elf city of Maerimydra, intrepid heroes must discover its source and destroy it, if they can.
Wild transmutation magic suddenly blasts through the sleepy town of Pinebrook Dell, turning the inhabitants into classic D&D monsters! Can the party reverse the effects as they too begin to slowly mutate? This one-session adventure is a love letter to classic D&D. Every monster the party might encounter dates back to the earliest days of the game... and the players are slowly turning into monsters themselves! Mechanics are provided for players to start turning into monsters (Gelatinous Cube, Beholder, Mind Flayer and more!) as the adventure progresses, with fun puzzles tailor-made to highlight their monstrous new abilities. This module is for 4-6 characters at level 4.
A new, expanded, OSR-ised, prettified edition of Joseph R. Lewis’ Ragged Hollow Nightmare which was rated among The Best by Tenfootpole. Joseph Lewis hit a perfect balance between the classics of dungeonverse fantasy and the whimsy of the folk tales we love so much (as testified by our Folklore Bestiary. we released last year), adding a dash of dreamworld strangeness and a pinch of body horror to spice up his brew. We did our best to respect his recipe when adding our extra material (about 30 pages of it). We worked with Joe and Li-An (the perfect artist to give life to spooky Ragged Hollow and its strange surroundings) to make the best module we could: a solid introduction to old-school gaming for both players and gamemasters. And for the veterans among us, it also makes an excellent, full-fledged campaign starter. Nightmare over Ragged Hollow is a sandbox adventure centred around a quaint town at the edge of the kingdom. But however quiet life in Ragged Hollow is, the town lies between places where you shouldn’t be traveling alone. Places like Gloam Wood (“A witch or two lurk there!”), the Bleak Mountains (“I’m told there are bugbears…”) and their infamous Mount Mourn (“Home, they say, to cursed Dwarven ruins”), not to forget the Wailing Hills (“Bandits on every road!”). There’s even a haunted house by the river (“That mad inventor riddled it with traps!”). But only when an impenetrable dome of golden light materialises around the Temple of Halcyon (“Hey, my kids go to school there!”) do things really get out of hand. Some selfless heroes (or, failing that, a bunch of greedy ne’er-do-wells) should really get involved. One town with three adventure mini-sites Three small dungeons One 50-room dungeon Three hexes with 16 detailed locations Two groups of potential allies or rivals Sixteen pre-generated characters One deadly countdown! Written for the Old-School Essentials (OSE) rule system
Beneath an ancient castle on the borderlands, reclaimed from the ruins of a lost civilization, there is a dark and deadly tournament being held. Seven stalwart adventuring companies, each representing a wealthy noble house, delve into the depths of the Dungeon of the Black Fey Mithelvarn. Each races to be the first to claim the power of the infernal machine that drives it, and find the Elixir of Immortality it contains. Can your party take up one of the relic banners and face the challenge of the dungeon, as well as the lethal competition from other companies seeking the prize? This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.
Part 1 of an Expert-level quest into a hostile wilderness. This adventure takes place in the Known World of the D&D game, as outlined throughout the D&D game rule books and modules. The DM may find it useful to consult the Companion and Masters Sets, as well as most of the X-series of Expert Set modules. D&D Expert Set module X9, The Savage Coast, would be especially helpful, as Tortles of the Purple Sage could easily serve and continue that module's direction and plot like, adding a previously undescribed area (the Great Northway) to the Known World. The DM may also place the areas and events of this adventure within an existing campaign setting, as long as the geographical areas of the campaign match those set forth here. Pgs. 40-62
A Conspiracy of Doors is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure for five player characters of 11th level. It can serve as an introduction to Sigil, the City of Doors, as well as a group of adventurers' first taste of action at the paragon tier.
This deluxe adventure takes heroes into the ruins of Gardmore Abbey, a monastery that was once the base of a militant order of paladins devoted to Bahamut. According to legend, the paladins brought a dark artifact back from a far crusade and stored it in their abbey for safekeeping, and evil forces gathered to assault the abbey and take it back. What the legends don’t tell is that this artifact was actually the Deck of Many Things, a force of pure Chaos. This adventure brings characters into the extensive dungeons beneath the ruins - dungeons that are warped and twisted with the raw forces of Chaos surrounding the cards of the deck.
A great evil force descended on the town of Phlan years ago. The townspeople were all either killed or driven away, and Phlan became (literally) a ghost town. Fifty years later, the survivors are ready to reclaim their town. But they need a band of strong and brave adventurers to lead the fight-they need you. Ruins of Adventure is a set of connected short adventures written by James Ward, David "Zeb" Cook, Steve Winter and Mike Breault-four names familiar to all AD&D game fans. It uses the same setting, locations and characters as the classic computer game Pool of Radiance by Strategic Simulations, Inc. In fact, many of the scenarios here in Ruins of Adventure will provide important clues to the successful completion of Pool of Radiance. TSR 9238
No Loose Ends is a mini-adventure that has a single encounter, based on a group of orcs (or ogres based on level) setting up an ambush for the players by setting up a fake bridge that they attempt to collapse under the players before attacking. The cloak of elvenkind is optional, it is included only in the higher level adjustments. Pgs. 17-18
The king summons the heroes to investigate the death of a knight, and the final fate of the king's long-missing son. The knight and his entire order was killed by a Dragon! Yay we get to fight a dragon in the first issue of Dungeon Magazine! Much travel over many different terrain types featuring avalanches, volcanoes spewing lava, and many random encounters (not detailed here) before the heroes reach their real goal: A lake with a ruined wizard's tower and dragon's cave. Opens with a particularly byzantine Background section for the DM involving a prince you never meet, pirates you never meet, knights you never meet, and deep gnomes you never meet. See Out of the Ashes in Dungeon #17 for sequel to this adventure. Pgs. 42-60
Devilish sorcery and ancient steel merge in the form of a reborn menace rising in the wild hills on civilization's verge. As the badlands burn with wildfire, an arcane warlord gathers his monstrous troops under his tattered banner. He is rumored to be immortal, and it will take tremendous bravery, immense cunning, and more than a little luck for stalwart adventurers to end his campaign of malice. Can your mighty heroes locate the War-lock's one weakness before his forces drown the realm in blood and fire?
What began as a subtle sickness has now spread into a full-blown contagion of magical origins around Roslof Keep! Although protected from the outbreak by their Mithel Standard, the Company of the Ivory Scimitar is now challenged with not only continuing their quest to defeat the Dungeon but also saving the town that they have grown to love. With unlikely allies forming from the other Mithel Companies, as well as unforeseen help within the labyrinth itself, the Ivory Scimitar must now take on the perilous task of curing the Violet Corruption while trying to discern the nature of its cause from somewhere deep within Mithelvanr's mad dungeon of self-propagating monstrosities! This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.
A strangely delivered advertisement has led you to a sage named Demetrios. He needs a rare component to complete a desperately needed potion. The journey to retrieve it will take you through a large, unexplored swamp to a ruined keep, the former headquarters of a vile cult that once claimed the lives of many innocent youths. You cautiously accept the mission... To solve the mysteries of "Baltron's Beacon," the characters must excel in handling wilderness, building ruins, traps, puzzles, and new monsters. This adventure, originally designed for tournament use, is now available for your own campaign. TSR 9152
The Lantanese have lost their magical ship, but they aren't willing to fight for it. That's where your heroes come in. She's expecting you. A party of adventures has gone missing, and the inhabitants of a local town have been acting strangely it is up to the party to figure out what is going on and stop whatever force are at work on the towns people Pgs. 8-23 & 47
An adventure included in the Essentials Kit (2019). The party starts in Phandalin, the starting town for the Starter Set (2014) adventure, Lost Mine of Phandlever. Various jobs are posted by Harbin Wester, townmaster, which the PCs can pursue. These jobs culminate in a raid on Icespire Hold, where Cryovain, a young adult white dragon, has recently claimed as its lair.
An Adventure for 0-Level Characters Remember the good old days, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics don’t waste your time with long-winded speeches, weird campaign settings, or NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know are there somewhere. For the past few years, an ogre that lairs in a cave near the wilderness town of Dundraville has demanded tributes of ale and supplies. The villagers were happy to comply, lest the brute attack them or destroy their property. But recently, the ogre changed his demands. Now he wants gold, building supplies — and captives! When the ogre walked into town only to have his request denied, he flew into a rage. The brute dragged two townsfolk off to his cave, to be eaten for sure! The villagers have no heroes to protect them — so someone must rise to the challenge! Six determined townsfolk have taken justice into their own hands. Can these village commoners defeat the ogre in his own lair before their fellows are eaten?