About: This encounter was cooked up in the Write your First Encounter workshop by the Storytelling Collective. It CAN be slid in as a side quest in any urban or sub-urban context, or be adapted to add confusion to any rescue mission you are presently running. Synopsis: Through the doorway a young woman shackled to the wall matching the description of Helena can be seen. Though disheveled and looking to be in great discomfort, her beauty is remarkable. But on closer inspection, there are other people here — three identical Helenas! Noble woman Elize Cleron has hired the party to infiltrate the catacombs under the Schaefer Estate and free her twin sister Helena. Helena is being held captive by the Schaefer family, trade rivals rumored to have ties to the underworld. Elize has been unable to free her sister herself because of her identical appearance. Rather than pay an unrealistic ransom, Elize has provided the party with what they need to break her out. This encounter is intended for 3rd level characters.
Do you want your players to feel like they are in a zombie movie, struggling against a deadly horde that tries to surround them, overpower them, and bear them down to the ground to be devoured? This is an adventure that can threaten even the stoutest of characters, and is not recommended for parties of levels 12 or below unless they are larger than normal. This module is designed to take 4-8 hours of play and cover a single day, depending on the party’s speed of play and how thoroughly they decide to explore. It includes suggestions and some plot hooks that can be used to tie this easily into a variety of long-running campaigns, or it can be run as an indepdent adventure. The players will come upon a sacked town, figure out what happened, track an item whose theft has ominious implications for the region, and explore a partly-flooded old temple to end the threat. It's primarily combat-focused, but there are a few areas where exploration and route choice makes a difference, as well as traps if the party goes for the optional temple treasury. The antagonists in this module are mostly ghasts and ghouls, but the module title and cover page are deliberately selected to not spoil this. These are greater ghouls and ghasts that can challenge higher-level characters, backed up by mobs of lesser ghouls that can surround, paralyze, and devour the weak and unlucky, led by a Warlord whose aura can drive even the stout-hearted into forgetting their plans in a moment of madness.
The party is enlisted to assist the Righteous Host, an army formed as a last resort to defend the world against the monsters of Elemental Evil. The host is greatly outnumbered. Its leaders send the party on a series of missions, each of which will give the Righteous Host an edge in the great battle to come. This epic adventure ends with the final push against the forces of Elemental Evil in the Meadows, and the outcome is informed by how effective the party is in their missions... and whether they are willing to risk putting themselves in the front lines. If the Righteous Host loses, players may decide to travel to Hommlet or other nearby towns to defend them. Whether the host is successful or not, players can decide to follow many different plot threads: exploring the Temple of Elemental Evil, finding the lich Kell the Eldest's lair and destroying his phylactory, or following the will of Bitbaern's Shield and discovering historical sites that were previously lost. Pgs. 44-69
A tenday ago, the human settlers of Olostin’s Hold started hearing strange noises coming from the distant White Stag Hills. Noises of battle. Incessant sounds of thundering hooves, clashing steel, flying arrows, and screams of agony heard from miles away. Could those be the awakened spirits of the past? And if so, what could be done to lay them to rest? The answers are found in Cairn of the Centaur Conqueror, a Feywild dungeon that only appears once every 777 years...
Multiple groups seek a thug’s girlfriend through the streets and alleys of Zobeck. The adventurers’ lives may depend on finding her first.
Your previous adventures on in Denali has raised some questions about the ruling body. After an assassination attempt and the recovery of a note, the PCs are led east out of the city. Will their trip to the eastern lands fill in the blanks or end in disaster? If successful their fears may be realized or unfounded…
The Premature Burial is the first in a series of four interconnected stories that recall the themes and atmosphere of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror. Baldur's Gate, year 1492 DR, a dark and terrifying sect works secretly in the slums with the aim of punishing all those who have long oppressed, marginalized and killed the city's poorest and weakest citizens. The patriars, unaware of anything, are the cult's main targets, and a magical plague is about to fall on them that can cause a veritable slaughter. The characters will find themselves caught up in these dangerous events and will be drawn into a spiral of horror, blood and madness that will strain their bodies and souls. The Prior who leads the mysterious cult has "a special plan" in mind for them and will do anything to achieve his goal. Players will be forced more than once to question their morals and make difficult choices in a scenario of complex social conflicts, personal revenge stories and tremendous machinations. What repercussions would the cult's plan have if it were carried out? And what would happen instead if it were averted and the patriars continued to run the city as they always have? Shadows as black as night once again loom over Baldur's Gate, and this time they may change its face forever. - Adventure: story lasting 4 to 8 hours for characters ranging in level from 4 to 6 - Setting: adventure set in the famous city of Baldur's Gate but easily adaptable to any setting - Narrative: detailed descriptions and an emphasis on story immersiveness - Roleplay: in-depth characterization of NPCs with biographies, descriptions of their personalities and their physical appearance - Bestiary: 3 new customizable opponents with the mechanics "Affixes," which can add an extra degree of complexity to confrontations, and " Weak spots," which grant a strategic advantage to characters who manage to discover them - Magic: obscure and unknown spells used by cultists to carry out their plans - Layout: designed to make it easier for DMs to browse information, featuring special attention to color coding and visual immediacy of text boxes - Maps: 3 maps available in high resolution, VTT and printer-friendly versions - PDF: available in high-quality, interactive, printer-friendly print versions - Playlist: a collection of songs selected by the authors to create the right atmosphere during game sessions
While traveling through a jungle expanse, the party meet a trader named Smera with a strange tale. Turned away from a nearby outpost, the trader is now heading back to civilization. Curiosity leads the party to the outpost, which has been destroyed. A strange disease has taken the outpost’s inhabitants, who built the place in support of a scholarly excavation of a nearby temple ruin. Following the path carved through the jungle by the excavation team, the PCs find the temple and its secrets. In this moss-covered and dark adventure, the party explores an old temple, faces its verdant guardians, and finds the source of the strange disease.
Horrors in the Dark The origin of the ShadowGate is lost in antiquity. Some claim it as the work of devils, others cannibal cultists or even demon lords. Not long after its discovery it was boarded up by the priests of the local church, and then fortified by paladins. Of late something has emerged from the portal. It remains trapped within the divine defences, but for how long?
Who is ready for a murder mystery? This scenario is completely customizable for a variety of levels available. We won't kid you, this scenario is not something you just throw on the table and play as soon as it is downloaded. A spreadsheet for understanding clues vs. suspects will need to be studied for you (the DM) to understand how to run the mystery. That being said, everytime we (myself & playtesters) have run it, it has been a smash! Like all of our offerings, you SHOULD customize it to fit your needs.
Synopsis: Goblin Bathwater, a magical drug, has taken hold in a sleepy coastal town at the edge of the Empire. As the characters investigate the origin of the drug, they uncover an international criminal conspiracy, wild and ancient magic, and a threat to reality itself. Contents: This beautifully made, 54-page adventure offers: A fully fleshed out, setting-agnostic starter area, brimming with colourful NPCs and hooks for adventure. Balanced encounters to bring characters to level 2; then some more devious encounters on their way to level 3. Three mini-dungeons built on the design philosophy of the "5 room dungeon method" Multiple big, cinematic set-piece boss encounters what will make your players feel epic. A facetted intrigue, which does not immediately suggest a simple, ready-made solution but invites the players to come up with their own, personal approach. Why pick this adventure? Hey, my name is Marius. This is my first time publishing on the DMs Guild but I wouldn't call myself a newcomer. I started playing Pathfinder 1e back in 2014. When I took over as our group's DM in 2019, we swapped over to 5e. We have run many, many modules and adventures since. Currently I play three games a week. In short: You could say I'm hooked. I created The Goblin Bathwater Incident as the ideal adventure for in-between your big modules, but it isn't a simple little adventure. With a playtime of about 30 hours, it still manages to hit that sweet-spot, where it establishes context, makes you grow fond of NPCs, and makes those big bossfight wins so much sweeter, all without taking more than a few sessions. The Goblin Bathwater Incident is different from many of the 1st tier adventures in that it pits the characters against traps and monsters, but also asks difficult, open-ended ethical questions, where a simple strategy of "apply sword to head of bad guy" will not cut it.
Settling down as the sky turns black with rest, you gather by the heated campfire and swap stories to pass the night. You hear tales of wonder and worry, descriptions of distant lands, plants, and beasts. Exchanged this night are stories of thieving travellers, worried giants, and godly squabbles. Ever wanted small stories to make travel more interesting than random encounters? Ever just wanted to run shorter games? Maybe you’re just low on prep time for your next session. In this volume of campfire tales you’ll find eight half-a-session length adventures that help with all these classic DM worries. Also included is an in-depth appendix of fauna, flora, locations, and more to help boost your game.
The Clockwork Queen and the Dame of Dirt have been fierce rivals for years--but a brazen abduction sees the situation escalate dangerously. To put matters right, the party must scale an ever-changing clockwork tower full of weird magic and mechanical mayhem, and attempt a daring rescue!
The village of Orașnou is buried in winter's snows and facing starvation. An unseen beast has ravaged the livestock culled to pay Lord Strahd's tax and the village is thrown into panic and chaos. Can you find the monster and save the village from starvation, or worse? Part eight of Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts.
This horror mystery adventure scenario takes the players to a small village just behind the fog. In a last month, three people went missing from Dormay village and they still haven't been found. The concerned villagers want the players to find the missing folk or at least shed some light on their disappearance. Through investigative work the players will discover that the village has a 100 year old secret, a secret which punishes the wicked. While the villain died over a century ago, he left behind a dreadful design that torments the people to this day. Players' heart and soul will be put to the test as they are ultimately faced with the creature born of sin. Penance for Sin features a short horror mystery adventure scenario. It introduces a new fiendish monster. The adventure favors invastigation and roleplay over combat encounters. "The horror element" section in the adventure gives advice how to make your gaming sessions more frightening.
Not so deep in Lake Marione an amulet sinks. This adventure is set in the town of Marione where PCs will be asked to retrieve a lost amulet. I hope you enjoy the adventure! A D&D 5e One-Shot Adventure
The Nobriskovs are a proud and pious noble family beset by troubles they wish to keep quiet. When their angelic daughter is abducted by duergar slavers, the player characters are asked to surreptitiously rescue her from her captors. However, the distinction between predator and prey blurs as they discover the noble scion's secret. What's included? 1 hair-raising adventure divided into single-page sections for easy running 3 fully-colored maps with unlabeled versions for players (made with assets from 2-minute Tabletop) 4 statblock variations for cursed creatures in addition to detailed mechanics on implementing a more virulent strain of lycanthropy 6+ ending permutations based on what the player characters do and how they do them Content Warnings: Violence, death, abduction, slavery, horror
Dementlieu: Dance with the Devil is a sandbox psychological horror adventure for 4-5 characters of 6-7th level. It can be played over the course of 6-8 hours for a one-shot, but works better when played slowly over the course of 2-3 games. This is the second part of the Carnival of Lost Souls campaign. It can also be played as a standalone adventure. Dementlieu: Dance with the Devil features: - A tragic story of ambition and pretense. - Exciting dive into the world of trick curses, second-meanings, and loopholes. - Exploration of the decadent Theater, that harbors a dark secret. - Rules for Talent Show and Aristocratic Game of Polo - anything to get a coveted ticket to the Grand Masquerade! - A detailed timetable of the exquisite and socially tense event for which the whole domain lives - the Grand Masquerade! - A group of mysterious guests to make your social events even more exciting! - New custom monsters to make combat encounters truly memorable and exciting - High-quality maps, also available in universal vtt format Made in Ukraine
Bastion Bay has become a bustling trade hub under the guidance of the cunning Capa Meriosa - but all is not well in the former pirate town. A monstrous undead shark stalks the seas, sinking any ship that gets too close; the newly built light house has gone mysteriously dark; and rumours swirl of twisted witches and other horrid things stalking the night. The port has been shut with no ships allowed to leave and tensions are running high. Bastion Bay is on a knife edge, and a new ship is just pulling into port... The Beast of Bastion Bay is an adventure for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons! It is designed for 3-5 5th level characters, and assumes a wide range of skills and abilities. It is designed to be played across multiple sessions and should take between 5 and 10 hours to complete. The adventure centres on the port town of Bastion Bay but can easily be transferred to any small or medium port town as long there are nearby islands and caves. This adventure was designed to have an equal balance of combat, exploration, and role-playing encounters.
The exciting artifact series concludes with AS3 – Peregrination. With a pair of control rods in hand you are guided to an ultimate prize, a Gnomish flying vessel! The rods have directed you to a crashed ship buried in the sandy beach. A check of the debris sheds light on the mystery of the artifact and a description of how to repair the intricate machine. Apparently finding the vessel is just the start!