Since time immemorial, you and your people have toiled in the shadow of the cyclopean ruins. Of mysterious origins and the source of many a superstition, they have always been considered a secret best left unknown by folk of your hamlet. But now something stirs beneath the crumbling blocks. Beastmen howl in the night and your fellow villagers are snatched from their beds. With no heroes to defend you, who will rise to stand against the encircling darkness? The secret of Chaos are yours to unearth but at what cost to sanity or soul? An introductory adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, Sailors on the Starless Sea pits a mob of 0-level adventurers against legacy of the Chaos Lords and their corrupted hordes. Delving beneath the crumbling ruins, the characters discover ancient crypts, a starless sea, and an ancient ziggurat, where death and treasure await in equal measure!
To Kill A King Death to King Ovar the tyrant! Life to law and order! Four characters are charged with a mission so insane, so daring, that terming it an assassination does not do it justice. Are the four volunteers who would lay low King Ovar killers or heroes? If murderers, how are they better than the madman theyre assigned to kill? And even if they are mere assassins, are they determined enough to overcome the Maze of Zayene? Snared in the Wizards Web
The adventures in Dalentown continue in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown. Workers in the town’s sewers have stumbled upon the long abandoned halls of the dwarves that once settled beneath this region. What they’ve found is a haunted library. What they’ve woken is something far more sinister! The Darkness Beneath Dalentown features hordes of oozes, undead, and demons festering for years in an ancient dwarven mining stronghold. Now, they are slowly working their way to the surface, and the folk of Dalentown are in dire peril!
The Therayle farm, which has been in the family for generations, was the best producing in the region. It now faces ruin. Hugh Therayle, the current owner, is at wit's end trying to reestablish even a modicum of control over the disrupted land. But, when Hugh saw the ancient doorway jutting up from the middle of the field where his corn used to be, he knew that this wasn't the type of problem a plow could solve. More than two centuries ago, a red wizard by the name of Houn made a discovery that shook the foundations of magic on Toril. Yet, due to a considerable amount of effort on his part, it never saw the light of day. The exact nature of this discovery is unknown but it involves the location of the skeletal fragments of an ancient being. The weave, which governs all magic on Toril, reacts strangely to the fragments. More information existed before Houn destroyed his research and fled Thay. His current whereabouts are unknown but many of his peers have attempted to track him down and steal his research for themselves.
For ages, “the old monastery on the hill” was simply that and nothing more to those that knew of it – a small building of a forgotten age and purpose, overgrown by the land around it. But recently, rumors have been making way among the educated that there is a wealth of knowledge that hides within the old monastery, waiting for someone to find it. Most dismissed these rumors as hearsay... but those with their eyes on the prize continued to pay attention. There must have been some merit to these claims, because seemingly overnight a monstrous creature has appeared on the monastery grounds - a serpent the size of a dragon, with a dozen legs and breath that crackles with lightning! There's no doubt the rumors and the monster's appearance are related somehow, and the PCs are tasked to put their skills to work to figure it out!
The adventures in Dalentown continue in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown. Workers in the town’s sewers have stumbled upon the long abandoned halls of the dwarves that once settled beneath this region. What they’ve found is a haunted library. What they’ve woken is something far more sinister! The Darkness Beneath Dalentown features hordes of oozes, undead, and demons festering for years in an ancient dwarven mining stronghold. Now, they are slowly working their way to the surface, and the folk of Dalentown are in dire peril!
"For untold eons, Eshebala ruled over Vulgarea, the 193rd Layer of the Abyss...content to revel in hedonism, corrupt the hearts of her dwindling followers and inflict petty cruelty. Yet, if there are days in the Abyss, there came one when she realized she despised her own province. She hated demonkind. She hated the Abyss. It had become unbearably tedious, spent...done. The burgeoning goddess decided she would dip her toe back into the lives of mortals, and quest to remember...to understand her own existence...But that was a lofty goal for a mind that had long ago begun to unravel. Instead...She is learning that all she has left is cruelty...and it was always cruelty that gave her power, so she now believes, to the woe of any who cross her path." Partly inspired by a scant notation by Carl Sargeant in 1992's TSR book Monster Mythology: "Eshebala is the foxwoman deity of vanity, charm, greed, and cunning. Her symbol is a female fox. Eshebala appears as a foxwoman, a shapely fur-covered female with a fox’s head, or as a beautiful young elf maiden. She is bedecked in rich clothing and jewels, and carries a silver mirror. Eshebala’s realm of Vulgarea can be found on the 193rd layer of the Abyss. She is wily and vain. She favors beautiful things and collects jewelry and art, the tackier and flashier the better. She prefers to overcome her opponents using subtlety rather than force, seducing and devouring out of boredom. She loves gossip, and always insists on being the center of attention. Eshebala is a patron of evil shapeshifters who use their wits and wiles before resorting to violence." Eshebala is a true chaotic evil demon goddess, behaving 100% true to form, and an extremely challenging opponent to take down for your players. An unforgettable 262 page jaunt for Levels: 15-17, with multiple possible modes of play, including Party Mode for up to 12 players. Profusely and paintstakingly illustrated over the course of several years by an award-winning professional illustrator. No stock illustration in this beast! A loving, dark & insanely detailed exploration of the 193rd Abyssal Plane An exuberant nod to the most grueling, deadly dungeons ever created Rich encounters that play out in a unique way each time 100 + NEW CREATURES 200 + NEW TREASURES (& possibly the most illustrated treasury ever provided) 82 BOOKS for PCs to discover 70 + NEW SPELLS & RITUALS, INCLUDING DETAILED OPTIONS FOR DEMON SUMMONING 50 + NEW TRAPS, HAZARDS & EFFECTS (guaranteed to run amuck) 4 RANDOM TREASURE TABLES, including a TABLE OF GEMSTONES that would be useful in any campaign 2 NEW CLASS SHIFTS: the Demonologist & the Exorcist!
The strangest things wash up on the beach sometimes. The inhabitants of the Acitoff coastline are accustomed to storms, but last week the largest hurricane ever recorded swiftly struck a 60-mile stretch of coastline. The first day after the hurricane, mysterious bodies started floating to surface. They bore the symbol of the feared pirate, Jaggertooth Grin! Now it is up to the adventurers to locate the pirate ship and claim the treasure. The adventurers will have to fight the creatures of the deep in this primarily underwater adventure. Pgs. 3-14
Yesterday, young Tobias went to investigate an old tomb by himself. Everyone told him it was a bad idea. Everyone was right. Today, you and your companions awaken to a town in chaos. Why is the temple sealed behind a divine shield? Why are children and worshippers trapped within? How do we get inside? What did Tobias do?! Ragged Hollow is a full-service starting town, full of classic creatures and challenges all updated and brought together for newbies and nostalgia-lovers alike. There are goblins and witches in the woods, a house full of traps, a basement of vermin, kobolds in a cave, bandits on the road, riddling ravens, a 50-room temple dungeon, nursery-rhyme monsters, living nightmares, Lovecraftian horrors, and tons of unique items to find. This is a mystery with lots of relevant side-quests around the town. The heroes can investigate the situation, get into the temple, save the innocents, and stop the monsters. And get some loot! ADVENTURE TYPE: Medium Dungeon / Town / Wilderness Adventure DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for characters levels 1 to 4. It includes several wilderness areas (forest, hills, mountain), a bustling town, several local mini-dungeons, and one 50-room temple dungeon. Each area contains various encounters and unique items. There are many opportunities for combat, but it is possible for players to explore most areas and complete many interactions without any combat at all, depending on their choices. INCLUDES: Story hooks, dialogue prompts, random encounters, stat blocks, original creatures and treasures, and maps. KEYWORDS: town, village, forest, goblins, goblin market, witches, hags, hills, bandits, ogres, mountain, kobolds, caves, dwarves, temple, clerics, nightmares, demons, riddles, traps, ghosts, fairy tales, Lovecraft, mutant
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
In a dark cell, Rollo Bargamnn, merchant of Thyatis, turns away in disgust from his evil, green-skinned prisoner; capturing this wretch cost a ship and sixty gallant men. Then his heart hardens once more, and he resumes the interrogation. Here, perhaps, he may find an answer to the question that haunts him. What new evil is casting its shadow over the storm-swept eastern reaches of the Sea of Dread? The trading routes are no longer safe. The attacks of the green-skinned "Orcs-of-the-Sea" and the mysterious "Ship-bane" now go unchecked. Once their raids were random, but the influence of some unseen master has made them into an organized menace. Soon the questioning will be over; Rollo will know enough to track the threat to its lair. Then he will need a band of hardy adventurers brave enough to take on the task. You perhaps? TSR 9127 (Graeme Morris's name is spelled 'Grame' on the cover of this module)
Stories of misfortune are often exaggerated, especially when they have been retold many times. For that reason, most people aren't taking seriously the claim that a sea monster living along the coast is eating whole ships full of sailors and swallowing entire families. But there's no denying a few facts -- the town of Lochfell is losing its citizens to a sea monster (one that walks on water no less), someone is stealing that same town's dead, and ships are beginning to choose other ports for unloading their goods. Such a scenario could doom the residents of the small port town to either a monster's gullet or the poorhouse. No one seems to know whether the town's two ongoing problems are connected, but the sea monster never leaves behind a corpse to bury. Is it collecting bodies for some dark purpose? Or did some more powerful evil creature create the sea monster to do its dirty work? Someone in Lochfell knows the answer, and it's up to the PCs to find it out. Lochfell’s Secret is a short D&D adventure for four 15th level player characters (PCs). The story is set in and around the port town of Lochfell. You can place the action in any section of your campaign world where a coastal town on a bay might exist. If there is a small town that the PCs visited in a past adventure but haven’t returned to in quite a while, so much the better. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
If absolute power corrupts absolutely, Matron Maelora best beware; her plans for total domination of the Underworld are already close to satisfactory completion, while attacks on the Upperworld have become increasingly successful. The other power-hungry drow families of Holoth may despise her but they know a true leader when they see one, and House Gullion has been revealed as the family to lead them all on the path to glory. With the entire Underworld in chaos and the Spider Goddess regularly communing with her chosen Matron, far greater dreams than mere regional conquest are within the grasp of the drow, as Maelora prepares her grand dark elf army for victory! With other mystical allies standing firm with the Matron, other Underworld races beneath her heel or cowering behind fortified walls, and every drow ready to play their part when she gives the word, what could possibly stop her from achieving her final triumph and fulfilling her destiny? But even the greatest of plans has a flaw if you look hard enough, and a party of stout heart and strong resolve can make a difference. At first, such a party may well believe it is on a smaller adventure, perhaps to win a few baubles or some small acclaim by rescuing a few kidnapped villagers. Soon, however, those adventurers will realise that much more is at stake, and that they are the ones who will need to make moves against the evil Matron Maelora and her increasing dominance if both the entire Underworld and Upperworld are to be saved. But how will they go about it? Can they ensure their own success when an entire city is standing against them? Only they have the chance to halt the Rise of the Drow! Published by AAW Games.
Into Wonderland is a book detailing an adventure in the Feywild, a setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. This book provides player options, encounters, variant rules, and a campaign of expeditions into the unknown centred around the city of Endercoast that has been spirited away from the Material Plane. To survive, you'll need to balance the needs of the displaced city with the mercurial whims of four powerful archfey. What's Included? - Endercoast, a city plucked from its roots and replanted in the Feywild - Quirks of the Feywild, including four powerful archfey, a guide for creating new archfey, rules for travel using emotional truth instead of maps, chaotic seasonal and magical effects, pranks, consequences for getting lost, and 14 weird stops along the way - New races - New subclasses - New backgrounds - New feats - New spells - Fantastical questlines taking a party through the courts of the archfey and on magical journeys inspired by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm - A whole heap of chaotic encounters with strange fey creatures - Dozens of new monsters, including 8 ancient beasts, 3 dangerous plants, 4 extremely powerful archfey, a bunch of NPCs based on the new subclasses of the book, creepy new fey like the darkwood stalker and the time vulture, a powerful hag, and more
Lightning rail rides in Breland are never as relaxing as they should be, especially when the coach is being used to transport a monolith hauled from the mysterious depths of Xen'drik Can the unsuspecting PC's overcome their surprise in time to repulse the invaders from the inside, or will they finish their journey in chains? Pgs. 18-27
In this adventure players are set first on a simple task, to solve the disappearance of the local witch before outside forces take an interest. But as the players get deeper, they will rapidly kind themselves on a quest for far more, as they range from an alchemist's lair on a crumbling tower down to a dark swamp full of mystery and danger, seeking a holy relic that might lead them to the outskirts of Hell itself. All in service of the sleepy Village Sujeira and the dusty souls within. 1452: Saving Sujeira’s Soul is an adventure set in northern Portugal on an alternate history Earth during the year 1452, in a world where history is much the same, but for the fact that the Rus are all hirsute dwarves, the hordes that poured out of central Asia were orcish (and half-orcs are mostly janissaries split among the Ottoman Empire’s demesnes), and elves are creatures of rumors and myth. Halflings live among the English and Portuguese in villages and farms, while goblins are pests best left for dead in the wilds between civilized countries. The Church arms its inquisitors with holy blessings, for witches are not mere milk-souring old women but vile devil-pacted souls, and wizards and sorcerers seek human and kine for sacrifices to fuel their darkling magics. There be dragons on the edges of the world, and ogres and sea serpents and giants, but the alchemists of this world know things beyond mortal ken and fight these horrors with science and canny concoctions. Published by Coldlight Press
For decades, Theatre Infernalis offered shocking and frightful entertainment to customers who entered its gaping demonic facade and saw a frightful portrait of the eternal torments that await all sinners. Now rumours tell of the aging and supposedly-cursed proprietor's deteriorating health and the theatre's impending sale, and the Artist's Quarter has been abuzz with those seeking one final fright with a walk through the crucible-licked walls of the infernal house of the macabre before its final curtain call. But are the theatre's smoke-and-mirrors and cheap scares hiding a truly wicked secret? What is the nature of the curse and illness that afflict the owner? And did foul and profane rites once take place between its walls that outside forces now seek to exploit? What happens when the spookshow's fun and games transform into a terrifying reality, threatening to spill forth an infernal malevolence onto the streets of the Blight?
The ancient world of Harth withers beneath its dying sun…but it’s not dead yet. The land is still riddled with villages in danger, cultists in caves, angels gone mad, eldritch horrors making strange deals, raging dragons, bandits in the woods, and cruel monsters lurking in every shadow. These 13 adventures span a wide variety of locations, environments, creatures, and genres. They are meant for use as quick-play sessions or one-shots, or to be dropped into campaigns as side-quests. These are linear dungeons and mini-quests full of interactivity and strangeness, encouraging exploration, risk-taking, and creative combat. ADVENTURE TYPE: One-Shot / Low Level / Combat / Exploration / Village / Wilderness / City / Subterranean / Dungeon Delve DESIGN NOTES These 13 adventures are intended for low-level characters around Level 3 Overall, these adventures tend to be linear dungeon delves in caves or single buildings 93 unique encounter locations 69 original magic items 71 original monsters (with 28 illustrations) 13 maps/diagrams Each adventure runs 2-4 hours in length
Eons past the fabled sorcerer-kings of Parhok perished in a rain of eldritch fire. But legends hold that one tribe survived the apocalypse, fleeing with their slaves to a hidden city, where the greatest enchanters of all time could sleep away the centuries, and awaken in a future age as rulers of a ruined land. Now once more the forbidden spells of the Parhok threaten the good folk of the Known Realms. A kingdom lies ensorcelled, a royal family ensnared by the forgotten dweomers of a long-dead race. When the best attempts of seers and diviners have failed, it falls to the heroes to save the kingdom. Have the sorcerer-kings risen to reclaim their bejeweled thrones? Or has a more sinister power bent their ancient magics to its sinister will? Only the most courageous and cunning of heroes will emerge victorious from Dragora’s Dungeon.
You are going to play Draw Steel! Tonight! What do you need to get started? You need three things: you need some friends, you need the rules, and you need an adventure. The Delian Tomb for Draw Steel can provide you with two of three. This is the classic starter adventure from Matt Colville’s Running the Game series, expanded and updated for MCDM’s new fantasy RPG Draw Steel! The Delian Tomb includes everything you need to get started including a step-by-step tutorial for both players and directors! The game is fun to play AND run, and we made learning our new rules super-easy. Barely an inconvenience! This product includes: - Draw Steel Starter Rules - Ready-to-play heroes each with their own tutorial. - The complete Delian Tomb five-room dungeon. - The town of Broadhurst including local townsfolk bursting with rumors. - A sandbox wilderness for players to explore filled with adventure. - The Jagged Edge Goblins, their queen Bargnot, and their new stronghold; Castle Andreas! - Maps! Negotiations! Montage tests! An orc necromancer! Ratfolk bandits! You do NOT have to “read the whole adventure” before you start! We designed this adventure to teach you the rules as you play. Draw Steel is MCDM’s new, original fantasy RPG with a focus on fun, tactical combat and this adventure will get you playing with your friends in minutes.