*THIS IS A D&D NEXT/5E PLAYTEST ADVENTURE* Imani, a Turmishan wizard and former adventurer, seeks the aid of heroes to infiltrate Dretchroyaster’s lair and recover the Diamond Staff of Chomylla—the key to powerful magic and wisdom locked away for thousands of years. In addition to his own sagely interest in the lore of lost Uvaeren, Imani recognizes the dangers of such powerful magic falling into evil hands. The dracolich has secured the staff in his lair’s cen- tral chamber, using ancient wards of protection that can be bypassed only by four artifact-idols once belong- ing to a cult of Bhaal. Each group of adventurers enters the dungeon through a different section of the dun- geon—a forgotten temple of Bhaal, a vast underground lake, a troglodyte village, or Dretchroyaster’s vaults. Dretchroyaster’s lair is no simple set of caverns and ancient ruins. It sits atop a source of great power and energy, which the dracolich and his Cult of the Dragon allies hope to use to unlock the secrets of the staff. Only by undertaking a unified assault against Dretchroyas- ter’s lair can the adventurers hope to recover the Diamond Staff and survive the dracolich’s fury. The adventurers must make their way through the lair and recover the Bhaalite idols that will help unlock the Diamond Staff, all the while dealing with the lair’s creatures and avoiding the dracolich as he pur- sues intruders. Entering the Chamber of the Diamond Staff, the heroes must overcome its magical wards and claim the staff before being slain by the dracolich and his servants.
The prince's godmother commissions you to retrieve the prince's jade crown, held in the tower of the vampire! The vampire's tower has three levels, and the three-level dungeon below 45 rooms. The party must be wary! Lethal traps abound. Marching order is important. A straight-forward dungeon crawl with many Gygaxian rooms and encounters. No roleplaying to speak of. Pgs. 4-18
Szass Tam, the lich lord of Thay, and his Red Wizards threaten to dominate all of the Sword Coast. The Bloodgate, an elemental node of power, must be destroyed in order to stop him. Remake of the original 4th Edition adventure.
Dungeon Masters Kit - Number 1 Palace of the Vampire Queen For three centuries the peasants of the Dwarvish island of Baylor have feared the raids of the Vampire Queen and her minions. Sweeping down at night from the palace in the shrowded peaks of the island, they range even further in their search for blood. And not only blood - the children of dwarf peasants often disappear if they are so unfortunate as to be out at night. Even the cities are no longer safe. The most recent victim was the Princess of Baylor, daughter of King Arman, who was taken in a midnight raid on the capitol city of At Toe within past weeks. King Arman has offered fabulous riches and land holdings with titles to the person or persons who can brave the stronghold of the Vampire Queen and return his daughter to him alive and well. But, in truth, he holds little hope. For even King Arman, Ruler of Baylor, Defeater of the Ten Orc Tribes, is afraid in his heart to face the Vampire Queen. Published by Wee Warriors, Distributed by TSR
Designed for a party of five characters of at least 9th level, this adventure will challenge players seeking a powerful magic item of the GM’s choosing. A sphere of annihilation has been provided and is woven into several elements of the adventure, but any appropriately powerful item can be substituted if something else suits your campaign better. Though the adventure is designed to test every type of character class, a rogue who can deal with traps is essential, as is a wizard or sorcerer of at least 9th level. Larger groups will have an easier time; parties of four or fewer characters will be in for a very bad time unless you mitigate some of the tower’s more lethal traps and encounters. This adventure culminates in an encounter with devils and a sphere of annihilation. The sphere of annihilation is hidden deep within the tower-and-dungeon complex of Crane the Sorcerer. Originally set atop a high mountain in a secluded and wild part of the world, the tower and dungeon can be relocated to meet the situation in your campign. Crane, an introvert, stayed as far away from civilization as possible, as is detailed below. The tower above the dungeon doesn’t present many difficulties for a group of powerful characters or alert players. It might lull PCs into a false sense of security before they enter the areas where they’ll really be put to the test.
Chapter 1 - When a relative of someone close to the characters goes missing from a nearby village, the players are asked to investigate. The party has to recover stolen goods from a thief before setting out from the City of Ravens Bluff. They travel through the wilds of Vesperin in search of the missing person, finding trouble and helping locals along the way. Chapter 2 - As the journey continues, the party arrives in a small hamlet suffering from a strange blight. The players will need to investigate the situation and choose sides in a longstanding feud between the mayor and a local magic user. Chapter 3 - After clearing a tribe of violent orcs from a nearby mountain pass to protect the residents of a town, the party will have to enter the lair of a long-dead dragon to rescue their quarry from a band of goblinoid slavers, where they discover an entrance into a dwarven city, lost and forgotten centuries ago. Chapter 4 - The party will have to traverse the ruins of the dwarven city, avoiding hazards and battling the horrors that lurk there, to uncover the identity of the slaver's leader. A discovery that will lead them through a treacherous forest to the city of Tsurlagol in search of a pirate ship called the Star Carver, and its drow captain, The Viper's Kiss. Along the way, they meet an unlikely ally. Chapter 5 - Once they arrive in Tsurlagol, the players will have to choose between gaining the assistance of the city council to fight the pirates head on, or making a deal with the Viper's Kiss, herself. The path they choose will either lead to an epic battle on the Sea of Fallen Stars, or into the deadly sewers and tunnels beneath the city to face an enclave of wererats, undead, and a tribe of mad, kraken-worshipping kuo-toa, in search of a fabled relic. The Laughing Horde of Ruin, Part 1 is the first module of an original 5e adventure campaign. It is designed for character level 1-5, and uses material from the Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, and Volo's Guide.
"More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge (called the Forge of Spells), where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby human town of Phandalin (pronounced fan-duh-lin) prospered as well. But then disaster struck when orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path. A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked wave echo cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost. For centuries, rumours of buried riches have attracted treasure seekers and opportunists to the area around Phandalin, but no one has ever succeeded in locating the lost mine. In recent years, people have resettled the area. Phandalin is now a rough-and-tumble frontier town. More important, the Rockseeker brothers - a trio of dwarves - have discovered the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, and they intend to reopen the mines. Unfortunately for the Rockseekers, they are not the only ones interested in Wave Echo Cave. A mysterious villain known as the Black Spider controls a network of bandit gangs and goblin tribes in the area, and his agents have followed the Rockseekers to their prize. Now the Black Spider wants Wave Echo Cave for himself, and he is taking steps to make sure no one else knows where it is." Extra Info from AL.com users: by @marcellarius. "There are a variety of locations in this adventure: the town of Phandalin, a gang hideout, a ruined keep in the forest, a destroyed village, and Wave Echo Cave (a dungeon crawl). The adventure is written in a sandbox style and relies on the players to choose their path. Phandalin offers several side-quests which could serve as hooks for continuing adventures. The premade characters have ties in their backgrounds to NPCs and locations. If you're not using these you'll need to consider other ways to introduce key NPCs."
An emissary from the dwarven community of Hearth-Home approaches the player characters, beseeching them to aid the dwarves in finding a powerful mage who might bring disaster upon not only their mountain fortress, but all of the Thunder Rift! Escape from Thunder Rift adventure leads the heroes into a dark dungeon where they may discover a gate between the valley of Thunder Rift and the World of Mystara. Packaged with a DM screen. TSR 9437
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.
What good is a king without a city to rule over? What happens when everyone in a city disappears, gone without a trace? This is the state in which an adventuring party, your characters, finds Sheol in; a city devoid of all life forms, claimed by Hegemon, a Wraith that used to be its king. Explore the empty city! Be mindful of the thieves' guilds! Find your way to the portal that leads to the castle! Fight your way through the hoards of undead to foil Hegemon's insidious plan! An adventure perfect for the middle part of any campaign, full of plot hooks, possible plot points and areas of exploration! Tons of places, like the Tower of Eiden, with backstories to tie in with any existing campaign! Discover the "Hell's Gifts", red gems that defy space! This adventure offers: 30 pages of exploration of an empty city and a castle swarming with undead. Maps for major locations Two new Monsters, Hegemon and Corvus, also usable as NPCs. 3 new magic items. A plethora of plot hooks, possible plot points, and setting-neutral lore. Many hours of fun gameplay A Dungeons & Dragons adventure written for 8th level player characters, with level adjustments for levels 5-10 for the encounters.
They say the legendary Ashes of Evensong have been found! In the year 689 DR, the song dragon Evensong was incinerated by Kallurous, a red dragon. In the wake of her death, Evensong’s ashes were gathered into a hundred urns by members of the Harpers. Originally intended as mere relics, the urns fell out of the Harpers’ possession when the caravan transporting them was ambushed. They were thereafter lost to history. Three months ago, stories began to circulate that at least one of the urns has been found. An artificer from the city of Elskar claims to have acquired some of Evensong’s ashes. According to his story the ashes are more potently magical than even residuum, created as they were from the mortal remains of a powerful magical creature burned to ash in the fires of an even more powerful dragon’s breath. This tale is dismissed by most, but certain factions and private interests aren’t willing to reject the possibility without investigation. If true, the artificer may be in possession of a highly dangerous and unfathomably valuable substance. More importantly, he may be in possession of the knowledge of where it came from, and the secret of what happened to the Ashes of Evensong all those centuries ago. In search of the truth behind a rumour that some of the Ashes of Evensong have been found, the player characters find that the Ashes are ultimately incidental to a far more worrying development. The trail of the Ashes leads them to the discovery of a fiend pact warlock operating among the ruling class of the city, a vault of forbidden magics the secrets of which have been breached, and a diabolic artefact about to be reclaimed in the name of a Duchess of Hell. With a focus on investigation, puzzles, and dangerous traps, Ashes of Evensong rewards players for caution and cleverness. Published by Spilled Ale Studios
Different worlds have different laws. But everywhere you go, you're going to find people who bend and break those laws and turn a healthy profit doing it. Whether sailing the high seas or the Flow, they are called pirates. It's these pirates that you've been hired to hunt. With letters of marque in your mapcase, your job is to track down and capture, alive or dead, some of the most dangerous characters in the known( and unknown) spheres. Of course, not everyone in space is a pirate. You'll also meet Torgan Betz (a man famous for bending the laws, rarely breaking them), Tiktitik, the Thri-kreen crusader, " Thought Taker," the illithid, and the feared Drow commander Teela Darkcloud. Even so they all have their personal agendas, and it's often hard to tell enemies from friends. TSR 9286
Kravenghast Necropolis is hidden in a valley that was formerly part of a now dead city. It consists of a small cemetery that sits atop an abandoned necromancer's laboratory. The necropolis has been refitted as a temple to Vecna, the undead God of secrets. The mausoleum in the cemetery contains a secret spiral staircase that leads to the underground laboratory. The temple is populated by a twisted cult of Vecna, led by the lich-priest Mauthereign. Pgs. 96-103
The Lamenting Lighthouse is a four-hour adventure for 5th-10th level characters, designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, with a nautical theme, heavy undead and horror elements, and mysteries to solve! One lonely lighthouse shines the way through the rocks and shoals that deny entry to the northern Moonshae Isles. But when the party’s transport approaches, a horrific gale at their backs - no light is in sight... The party must venture ahead of their vessel in a race against the storm to the restore the beacon before their ship is lost. What has befallen the keepers, and what dark secret does the lighthouse hold? Will the heroes prevail, or will they join the lighthouse's lament? This adventure can easily be inserted into a run-through of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. This one-shot can also serve as a nautical interlude in any on-going campaign where the characters have to take to the sea. Included with this adventure are: + 6 original custom creatures, the dread wraith, the dread wight, the swarm of seagulls, the captain, the rating, and the sailor + 12 player hand-outs with notes that shed light on the mystery of the lamenting lighthouse, with a randomization mechanic that ensures a degree of replayability + 9 original fleshed out NPCs, including personality traits and roleplaying tips + 2 original magical artifacts + 7 hand-drawn maps of important locations + a story reward and 2 story hooks for continuing the adventure (depending on how the adventure resolves)
“The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge” is a sequel to “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch” and the third part of the Scales of War Adventure Path. In “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch,” the PCs discovered that dark creepers had sold arms and tactical intelligence to the orc war chief Tusk, aiding him in his attack against the folk of the Stonehome Mountains. In this adventure, the PCs investigate the link between the orcs and the dark ones, stumbling into an armsrunning operation that takes them to the Shadowfell in order to finally confront the charismatic figure behind it. Pgs. 4-53
At Death’s Door is a dungeon crawl that takes place almost entirely in the upper chambers of the Lair of the Keeper. This lair belongs to an ancient dracolich that perhaps styles themselves after the legends of the Keeper, or perhaps even inspired them. Stormhome. The player characters are called to the home city of House Lyrandar to meet with Guild Handler Lhara regarding their quest for an artifact tethered to Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. The Descent. Traveling by airship over the horrors of the Demon Wastes, the party descends into a vast canyon to find the Lair of the Keeper. After agreeing on a pickup point, the party skydives into the hellish landscape and hides to avoid the notice of a would-be god, then explores the surrounding area. The Lair of the Keeper. The bulk of the adventure takes place in the upper chambers of a dracolich’s lair in a manifest zone tied to Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead. Surviving the horrors of this place is the main challenge of the adventure. The Ghaash’kala. There is one last challenge standing between the players and their escape to the airship. The orc tribes called the Ghaash’kala consider it their holy duty to protect the rest of the world from the horrors of the Demon Wastes. They will attempt to stop anything from escaping the Wastes, unfortunately including our heroes.
An omnious encounter with a fortuneteller sends a party of adventurers on a 200-mile journey across the Lands of Intrigue. While traveling throught the towns and terrain (detailed here for the first time) that lie in their path, they hear rumors and obtain clues about their mission. Their ultimate destination is Castle Spulzeer, a once proud stronghold that has become a den of terror. When the heroes enter the haunted keep, they meet a terrifying trio of residents: a madman armed with stolen magical power, a liche whose secret laboratory houses untold horrors and treasure, and a furious ghost bent on revenge. These three ensnare the party in their fight over an ancient weapon. Each will stop at nothing to keep it from the other two. The heroes must choose with whom they will ally - and the wrong choice could lead to their doom. Castle Spulzeer is an adventure complete in itself. However, as a crossover story, it offers every Dungeon Master a choice between two endings. The first leaves the party in the Realms. The second transports the characters to the Demiplane of Dread, where the plot continues in the Ravenloft adventure The Forgotten Terror. For 4 to 6 Characters of Levels 8-12 This conversion guide allows DMs to run the original module with 5th Edition rules. To use this conversion guide you will need a copy of Castle Spulzeer, originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in digital format on the DMs Guild. Visit Classicmodulestoday.com for instructions on creating your own classic module conversions and selling them on the DMs Guild. Castle Spulzeer was originally scheduled for publication by TSR in June 1997. Then, near-bankruptcy caused a total failure of TSR's schedule, resulting in no books being published from February through the very end of July. Some books would be delayed for over a year, and others would disappear altogether, but Castle Spulzeer was relatively lucky: it was just delayed four months, until October 1997. The reason may well have been its theming, and its crossover with the Ravenloft line, which made Castle Spulzeer a great Halloween release. Castle Spulzeer has an even more far-reaching connection: its ending can lead players to the demiplane of Ravenloft and The Forgotten Terror adventure. This was probably intended as a bit of advertising for Domains of Dread (1997), the third edition of Ravenloft which was released in August 1997. In other words: in their last days, TSR was working very hard to cross-market their products, but they didn't live long enough to see the success of the Spulzeer-Intrigue-Dread connection.
Few planes possess the raw malevolence of the Infinite Layers of the Abyss. It is a place of random violence, appalling cruelty, and pure, unadulterated wickedness. Here, unreasoning malice rules, and countless demons torture and murder for the joy of it. The Abyss is innovative in its wretchedness, with each fleeting moment birthing new and awful psychotic acts of utter evil. Those who brave its depths find no relief from its corrosive nature, nor respite from the cancerous seeds of evil blooming within all who tarry here; they find only anguish, pain and if they're lucky, sudden, abrupt death. "Into the Maw" is the ninth chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon magazine. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon magazine's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #356 of Dragon magazine features an expanded list of strange and exotic magical items that could be purchased from the mercane merchants encountered during "Into the Maw." In order to rescue a friend, the PCs must sail into the Abyss and infiltrate a prison built by the Prince of Demons. Pgs. 48-85
The logging town of Falcon’s Hollow has been through rough times—first a kobold tribe abducted the town’s children for an evil ritual, then an unknown force reanimated the defeated kobolds to attack the town. Now a horde of zombies approaches and a mysterious evil gathers power in the north, tainting wildlife and the buried dead, its presence hinting at ancient evils better left undisturbed.
Magical soul gems have been stolen from the secret vault of the goddess of death and scattered across the planes. Some want these gems to unlock the secrets of the multiverse. Others want them for personal power. Still others want them to resurrect a fallen deity. As the god of oblivion looms near, can the PCs retrieve the gems from their new owners in time to save their world? Beyond the Vault of Souls is a planar adventure for 9th-level characters, compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game. Within you’ll visit the Eternal City of Axis, brave the dangers of the Abyss, and match wits with the torturer daemons of Abaddon. This adventure is set in the Outer Sphere of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be placed in the strange planes and dimensions of any game world. It can be used on its own or enhanced with information from The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse.