Something stirs in the dark heart of the Warwood, and in response something stirs in the stars. A simple encounter with bandits on the road leads the PCs to a frightening place where even dreams are deadly. Cultists seek to free the soul of a terrible entity from beyond the stars. The PCs must retrieve the soul vessel of a long-dead evil paladin to stop cultists’ plan from coming to fruition. Pgs. 60-92
In “Rescue at Rivenroar,” the player characters must brave the depths of ancient catacombs in search of prisoners taken from the town of Brindol in a midnight raid. The hobgoblins, bandits that style themselves after an invading horde from long ago, have taken refuge in a dungeon under a ruined mountain fortress, and the PCs must clear them out to find the captive townsfolk and the treasures taken from Brindol. “Rescue at Rivenroar” also marks the first step in a great journey - the Scales of War Adventure Path, which spans 30 levels and put the PCs at the crux of events that shapes the world for centuries to come. While the scope of this adventure isn’t as grand, it represents the seed from which an epic tale will surely grow. Pgs. 4-45
Long ago, when the Dragonborn Empire of Arkhosia thrived, the flying citadel Ustraternes was undone by tiefling magic. Now, a dragonborn zealot with dreams of renewing the lost glory of his ancestors explores the ruins—and unleashes a plague of rampaging drakes on the terrified locals. The story offers PC's the chance to tame a Warwing Drake, disperse a mob, parley with undead, and battle within an alpine meadow that defies gravity.
Darkness looms near Winterhaven! Kobold brigands have grown ever bolder in their attacks, marauding the once peaceful town, and a known explorer has been missing ever since their departure to the excavation site of a dragon burial site. When the party investigates, they will discover that the kobold's leader, Irontooth, bears a tattoo of a ram-headed demon. This is a troubling portent, for the townsfolk will report that this can only mean the dread god Orcus, master of death, has an active cult in that ruined keep! It is up to the party to enter the Keep on the Shadowfell and put a stop to the cult's fell machinations before it threatens all the realm. There they will fight the evil priest Kalarel, Scion of Orcus and seal off the vile portal to the dark realms he is master of. Should the heroes seize victory, glory and treasure are sure to be theirs. But first they must endure the challenges of that dreaded KEEP ON THE SHADOWFELL!
The party's objective is to steal the gold that a tyrant would use to pay the mercenaries he has hired to take over the town of Elderwood. The adventure plays out as a caper over three in-game days.
Faced with an unusual alliance of giants raiding the countryside, the party must venture into the steading of hill giant chief Nosnra and uncover maps to the locations of the other giant strongholds. “Steading of the Hill Giant Chief ” can be run as a stand-alone adventure, or you can play it as the first part of a four-part series that continues with “Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane” (Dungeon 198), “Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl” (Dungeon 199), and “Hall of the Fire Giant King” (Dungeon 200). The adventure is part of the Against the Giants series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
Kavalar Coppernight, a dwarf prospector, led a couple of dozen volunteers in a quest for rich veins of ore. Several months ago, they began underground mining operations, as well as a surface excavation for a small keep. Hearing of this development, the mayor of the nearest town sent two veteran militia members to investigate. They should have returned two days ago, and the mayor is growing anxious. The PCs are asked by the mayor to find out what happened to the two militia members. Pgs. 12-17
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.
When the fires smoldered in the belly of an ancient red dragon tyrant, and his thirst had been slaked by the blood of countless innocents, the old wyrm made a deal with a succubus to spawn him a son and ensure his name would live forever. The demon held true, though she imbued the wyrmling with her own infernal blood. Those who fear and serve the abominable spawn of this pact know him as the Wyrm Prince. Cast into the abyss centuries ago by the legendary Three- River Paladin, the Wyrm Prince licked his wounds and recovered his strength. The Three-River Paladin has passed into legend, and the Wyrm Prince has resurfaced, his vengeance awakened along with his hunger. The Wyrm Prince sacked the high city Zhaldanis, slaying its people and claiming the greatest gift from the gods — the Soulstone. At this late hour, you must venture into the catacombs of the Wyrm Prince before the Soulstone loses its power and all mortal souls are damned.
A half-marilith, half-medusa druidess lich known as the Hate Blossom lairs in this dungeon, having been run out of mortal society and shunned by demonkind. She possesses the petrified-yet-still-living body of Melenkir, the first human arch-mage and the single creature to remember a ritual that may save the realm from an extraplanar threat. Only slaying Hate Blossom or convincing her to lift the curse will revive Melenkir. Published by Defy Danger and Save Verses Death
Death slithers across the Dunes. Nightmares of desert horrors trouble the dreams of the innocent while raiders grow ever bolder beyond the walls of the great city-state of Tyr. Bandits and merchants chase rumors of a temple hidden in the desert, an ancient shrine to the primordial Ul-Artha said to safeguard a fragment of the artifact known as the Crown of Dust. Can the heroes recover a caravan lost in the wastes, repel the threat of vicious raiders, and win the relic form the perilous temple? Now that Tyr is free of Kalak the Sorcerer-King, opportunity abounds in the city and the surrounding wastes. But some see Kalak's fall as the beginning of Tyr's end, and the unpatrolled deserts nearby are rife with danger. Outlaws openly defy the city's Revolutionary Council and threaten outlying holdings. If Tyr is to thrive, heroes must arise to tame the lawlessness and evil that threatens the free city.
Many years ago, Evard came to Duponde to destroy his rival Vontarin, a powerful wizard who lived in a manor at the edge of town. The two mages met near the walls of the abbey of St. Avarthil and dueled all night long with black spells, laying the old monastery in ruins with their magic. In the morning, the surviving friars found Evard dead in the wreckage and buried him in the town’s graveyard. Vontarin was never seen again. Now, almost fifty years after his death, Evard’s final curse is about to descend on the town and everyone within it. Also available in Dungeon Magazine #219 Pgs. 30-90
The Bloody Maul of Kord is a magic weapon protected by the priests of Kord, who occasionally allow a noteworthy hero to use it when going on a dangerous quest worthy of the storm deity’s blessing. Six months ago, Atrimos of Ardor took the Bloody Maul for a quest to the Caverns of Demise, hoping to end attacks to the realm being launched from the caverns. He never returned. Now, the clerics of Kord hire the PCs to go into the caverns to retrieve the Bloody Maul of Kord—and to find Atrimos, if possible. Pgs. 108-113
The Raven Queen’s servants often seek out mighty allies. One of these is the black dragon Quetzallus, who resides in a deep cavern on the Shadowfell guarding a stream of souls flowing into the Raven Queen’s realm. But a death knight named Raxikarthus, betrayed by the Raven Queen in life, now seeks to enslave this dragon for his own purposes. He madly believes that he can stand against the Raven Queen, and seeks allies of all stripes—even her own servants—to do so. The death knight has found a pathway into the Shadowfell thought closed by mortals. Beneath a decayed keep, the undead dragonborn has reopened this portal and led his forces into the Shadowfell itself. The PCs are called in to beard the death knight in his lair. They find it abandoned, but discover a strange passage in the lower reaches. Pgs. 162-167
The task seems easy enough: accompany a mysterious traveler and her equally mysterious package from Waterdeep to Neverwinter. In the Jewel of the North, tasks are seldom easy, though. News travels fast and the Red Wizards of Thay have learned of the traveler and the object she carries. Now a Necromancer readies an ambush for the adventurers and their ward, intent on stealing the item for his own sinister purpose. A prelude to the Lost Crown of Neverwinter Encounters season and connected to the release of the Neverwinter Campaign Setting.
The city has been plagued by mysterious nighttime assassinations that leave behind no clues about who might have perpetrated them. Divinations from temple of Ioun adherents suggest the guilty parties can be found under a nearby curio shop. The PCs set off. Beneath the shop waits the Poisoned Shadows Assassins Guild, as well as a greater danger than the party expected. Pgs. 54-59
A group of mysterious, sea raiders— capable of appearing from out of nowhere, striking, and disappearing— has terrorized a group of coastal states for some time. Now the leader of the states has asked the characters to infiltrate the raiders, find out how they operate, and put a stop to their activities. But once the heroes join the raiders, things aren’t as clear as they were led to believe. Will they succeed at their mission? Or join the raiders themselves? Pgs. 54-82
In the ruins of Kiris Dahn, a human town, lies a 'Slaying Stone'. The stone is said to have the power to kill any foe, though the stone is consumed in the process. The party will venture into the ruins which are the home to an assortment of goblins, hobgoblins, and kobolds. However, a mercenary band of orcs have been hired (by a benefactor who is not met in the module) to search the ruins for the Stone, and the party must find it first. The party must use caution and stealth to move through the town without alerting the denizens or the mercenaries while searching strategic points around the abandoned town to find the Stone. Eventually, the party should find the stone under the protection of an indifferent Brass Dragon.
A pall hangs over the frontier town of Wellspring, casting this once-vibrant place into corruption and death. Strange people stalk the streets and unexplained murders occur each night. Nagging fears that more horrors will spill forth from the Kadagast Mountains instill a pervasive paranoia within the townsfolk. Suspicious people watch their neighbors, and temple attendance has never been higher. Folk keep to themselves, hiding in their homes. They avoid darkened streets, lock their doors when night falls, and shutter their windows to close out the screams and shouts echoing in the dark. If the grim threats pressing the town are not stopped, the fl ame of Wellspring might very well flicker out.
Your PCs are reaching the upper end of the heroic tier. New worlds are opening up to them—they might have already ventured to the Feywild, for example, and made contacts with inhabitants of that magical plane. Now they are ready to take their first steps into the darkness. The Shadowfell awaits... Vandariel, a shadar-kai witch who calls herself the Voice of Pain, is a fanatic devotee of the Raven Queen. She has founded and become the self-proclaimed high priest of a bizarre cult, the Lords of Pain, whose purpose is to bring more fey into the shadow pact with that goddess of death. Although the original shadar-kai entered this pact voluntarily, and the race breeds true, Vandariel is consumed by what she sees as a divine mission to reveal the mystery to all fey—whether they wish it or not. Those who do not come voluntarily to the truth are brought against their will. Dark stalkers move like the night, seeking out and abducting suitable subjects. This Side Trek can serve as an introduction to the dangers of the shadow realm. It works well for PCs who are approaching the paragon tier, since it presents a reasonable challenge for characters of 10th level. It is suitable as a climactic encounter for lowerlevel adventurers, as well. It consists of only two encounters.