Ruins of the Grendleroot is a book of ten easy-to-prep and easy-to-run adventures for the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Designed for characters of 1st to 5th level, these adventures take place in the caverns, chambers, tunnels, and ruins of Blackclaw Mountain, within which lurks a strange otherworldly sentience known as the Grendleroot. Ruins of the Grendleroot focuses on the sense of mystery and wonder that comes from exploring ancient ruins and lost chambers. The central hub of these adventures, Deepdelver's Enclave, is a frontier outpost overlooking the ruined city of Shadowreach, set deep within the mountain. In Deepdelver's Enclave, adventurers and explorers recount tales of their explorations, trade treasure and artifacts, and enjoy their shared love of uncovering the mysteries of the mountain.
The town of Warlorn is often thought of as a peaceful one. Not much happens there, and it is usually considered a place of peace were parties could convene to make truces or were the hurt could always come to find someone to care for them. Perceptions can often be incorrect however. The church of Ilmatter, God of Suffering, acts as an effective government in the town. Illmaters tenants are that to help all those who have suffered and to take on their suffering so that they may be healed. To them suffering is truly Holy, and to take suffering on from another is seen as the greatest way to prey to their god. Not everyone is as virtuous as a god, even his own followers, and humanity in taking on holy suffering is still left with desires; lusts that can be corrupted. When the Duchess of Manipulation who delights in corrupting church men spoke to the leader of this clergy of Ilmater, it was no difficult task for her to find a loophole in Illmaters word that she could exploit. If suffering was holy, then truly it should be those that do not yet understand Ilmater’s ways that should feel this suffering. Using a cultist of hers, she was able to create a child that could later be used as an ingredient for a portal right to her layer of hell. It’d be two birds in one stone; corrupt a devoted followers of a god she hated to later take their souls as her own, and create a portal that she could use to cross both herself and her armies to the material plane. When the players enter the scene, the child will have already been kidnapped, and the child’s mother will be hanging up fliers giving out a reward to anyone that can find her child. The players will find themselves needing to infiltrate the Church of Ilmater into its secret underground cult so that they can save the child and stop Glasya from finding her way to the Material Plane.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐚. The orc uprising around Nirzumbil must come to an end! The Mercur trade coster is benefiting too much from the blockade of the dwarven stronghold and threatens to corner the market on iron ore and gems for years to come. If the orc warlord commanding the armies can be slain, the orc forces will surely fall apart. But how to find and kill a warlord who is powerful enough to unite thousands of orcs? This adventure features 5th edition conversions of the krenshar, senmurv, portal drake, and stone flyer.
As winter releases its grip on the region surrounding the town of Phlan, secrets are revealed within Glumpen Swamp. Strange landscapes and sigils have been found beneath the mud, and the wildlife around the swamp has become greatly agitated. At times a spectral figure can be seen in the distance, only to disappear upon approach. Can you discover what is happening in the muck and gloom?
What elder evils lurk in the depths of the freezing mountain ruins? Find out in The Stoneheart Ruin! The adventure features: An adventure set in a desolate, wintry mountain landscape. 16 pages full of intrigue and mystery, containing full color maps, plus 2 unique monster stat blocks. Provides a great introduction to Mind Flayer lore and mythos for Tier 1 players. Can easily be set in the Spine of the World for use in Rime of the Frostmaiden. Let your characters test their mettle as they climb and face the ancient dangers lurking in the cracks of The Stoneheart Ruin! “I have no explanation for any of these finds. We heard disturbing noises coming from further within the mountain; thunderous and growling.” Excerpt from a pamphlet, signed: “Koralia Meadring, Anthropologist Extraordinaire” Koralia needs you to investigate her most recent discovery: a ruined cavern deep in the mountains. Her small team of academics did a cursory walk-through and think they've found a big breakthrough! However, they left in a hurry after being frightened by the horrors they heard coming from deeper in the mountain. They escaped and found one of their team was missing - a goliath named Marek. You must climb the mountains and locate the ruin, make certain that it is safe for study by Koralia’s team, and if possible, find and rescue Marek, whose fate is uncertain. Made during the November 2020 RPG Writer's Workshop.
Rumours tell of a secluded cave where a powerful cleansing artifact resides, guarded by a mythical creature that no one has seen and lived to tell the tale. Heat boils forth from this cave, and tortured shrieks echo on the wind. Do you have what it takes to brave the Lair of the Lava Queen?
Under the Flooded Forest grows a toxic maze of magical fungi called the Nidus. From this horrid realm a cult has struck a terrible blow against the wood elves struggling to regrow the trees in the forsaken swamp of the Flooded Forest. The elves, on the brink of extinction, need the adventurers to navigate this deadly labyrinth and recover a precious object. But the tunnels here crawl with spore-laden beasts and demons, and the very air itself is poisonous.
Missing relics and a mysterious well. These are the things that have drawn your party to this idyllic region of the land. Why would someone take sacred objects, what do they have to do with each other…and why does the trail lead to a well in the middle of a lake?
The village near Oreclasp Keep has been reporting brutal owlbear attacks that have left people missing or dismembered. Lord Oreclasp has placed a bounty for every owlbear beak brought to Oreclasp Keep. The villagers don’t suspect the deeper problems brewing in the land.
There are many entrances to the Feywild, but none so grand as appearing before the throne of seelie fey, the Summer Court. The Summer Games, a bestselling mini-arc intended for 5th level characters, introduces a party to court intrigue in the Feywild, headed by Queen Titania with King Oberon at her side. In the tourney the party must navigate unknown dangers, asked by the Summer Queen "How will you win? With skill? With truth? With wit? With wager? Or without? These five tasks lie before you, and you must complete them all to continue." In the hunt your characters must quest for a magical, talking beast. But in the end, will they catch the White Hare, or will they wish they had? In the maze players must navigate a shifting labyrinth riddled with pit traps and Feywild nasties. At the feast the party is presented with their reward for their trials, the payment for being the entertainment at this courtly gathering… or perhaps they’re on the menu. This mini-arc references stat blocks presented in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes and the Monster Manual. Also provided within the PDF: download links to VTT and tabletop compatible maps relevant to scenes presented in the Summer Games.
This adventure has been designed as a one shot adventure for 4-8 players, pregen 5th level characters included, in 4-6 hours. It tells a classic story of the "good" races oppressing the "dark" races, with their warlike expansionist ways.
Your adventurers are in luck! They are stumbling into the town of Larksville just a day before the Annual Cockatrice Race! This event and the revelries surrounding make up a week of pure entertainment for anyone passing through the area. The town is of medium size with a population close to one thousand, but during their Fall Festival that number is nearly tripled as people from all around flood in. The air is constantly filled with music and the smell of delicious foods. There is a bard in every tavern and a drunk passed out in every street. Most buildings are hanging red, gold, and orange decorations (the official colors of the festival) and anyone wearing those colors receive discounts on goods!
Good folk have vanished. Those who were once disparaged and forgotten now wield power unlike anything seen before. Rulers and sages turn a blind eye to the disturbing events unfolding around them. In every corner of the Lost Lands, the Cult of the Veiled One spreads unchecked. Prophesizing a cleansing jihad of flames and the coming of the Burning One, the cult has erected its brazen spires in every land. What follows depends on the wit and courage of mighty heroes who must rise to the occasion and take the fight to the enemy in its very stronghold. Will they succeed, or will they succumb to the temptations of the Veiled One’s court and join in the conquest of their home world? A fabled city of wishes on the edge of an eternal flame. The City of Brass is a rich combination of sand-box style role playing adventure, planar exploration, and twisted dungeons designed to test even the most seasoned adventurers.
A group of orcs has decided to start ambushing travellers on a forest road between two prosperous towns. Led by the enigmatic "Big Man" these orcs focus on robbing people, but tend to avoid violence. When the characters stumble upon this band of orcs robbing a halfling, do they give up their money to save him? Or risk the halfling's life to attack these bandits?
When a Thayan research expedition returns from the Glacier of the White Wyrm with only two survivors that are reduced to whispering about an ancient pyramid under the ice, perhaps it is time to discover just what scares the life out of a nation of necromancers. The events of DDEP2 Mulmaster Undone resulted in terrible geographic upheaval all around the southeastern region of the Moonsea. Massive landslides, earthquakes, tidal waves, and gnashing tornados devastated the land and the city of Mulmaster was nearly scrubbed from the face of Faerun. Fortunately, these events also revealed previously hidden artifacts—trinkets, mostly—from the ancient Netherese all around the city. The Thayans have long held an interest in the port city and wasted no time in assisting in the rebuilding efforts. They simply asked that a blind eye be turned to their archaeological interests, and in return they would continue to spend their own resources (at no expense to the Mulmasterites or even the High Blade) to rebuild the city, bigger and better than before. It wasn’t long before their interests paid off with the discovery of a research laboratory beneath the Glacier of the White Worm, far to the east of Mulmaster and nestled in the mountains. The Thayans sent a sizable expeditionary force but only two acolytes returned. The visiting Zulkir has found this particularly troublesome, and with the assistance of Rastol Shan, the head of the Cloaks, has arranged for a mercenary force to perform a more pointed investigation of the area. In return the Thayan noble has promised significant compensation. Upon arrival at the dig site, the characters are quick to discover that the laboratory hides ancient and palpable evil. The purpose of the facility can be discerned with careful investigation, and the effect of the still-active fragment of the Dark Obelisk has empowered (some may say attracted) servants of the Worm that Walks. Danger and death await, certainly, though the characters always have the option of running away and living to fight another day…
Welcome to Pentapolis, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is about to unfold. Our story begins with a terrible plague taking hold of the city. The streets are filled with death, the people in confusion, and nothing seems to be helping. Characters are called to aid the city but what starts as a simple mission becomes one that will entangle the characters in a bitter conflict between law, religion, the shady underworld, and ancient powers thought to have been destroyed. The Plague of Pentapolis is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure designed for four to five (though one or two more is ok) characters starting at 1st level. By the end of the story, the characters should be at least 17th level. Additional and earlier levels may be gained by those who are bold enough to seek them.
The town of Canticle Bay has long been dependent on ocean fishing for its economy, and as demand has grown, the town has increased its efforts to supply the inland cities with the best seafood. Recently, however, the men who go out on the boats haven’t been coming back. A newly formed group of adventurers have been sent by the guild to investigate the missing men. Where are they? Those that are still alive can be found in the watery depths amongst the Sirens sworn to protect the ocean. Faced with the truth, whose side will the party take?
Curtain Call: A Sharn Adventure is an introductory Eberron adventure. This is a great adventure for new Dungeon Masters to Eberron and includes sidebars to help DMs and players get familiar with the world of Eberron. A paying job in Sharn to find out what happened to a missing noble turns into a myriad of street chases, personal grudges, spy agencies, cultists, and charlatans as you take an exciting tour through the City of Towers.
Lord Blackmoor's son has been kidnapped, and is being held in the crypts beneath an ancient fortress. Can our heroes rescue the boy before he is sacrificed in a diabolical ceremony? The party responds to a plea for assistance from Lord Blackmoor, whose son Willet has been kidnapped. Blackmoor desperately needs someone to mount a rescue mission. The party journeys along the old East Trail, facing bandits and dangerous obstacles before delving beneath the ruins of Firestone Keep, encountering fearsome enemies and ancient magic. Finally, the party must fight for their lives as the truth about Willet’s abduction is revealed.
When local farmer Jonas Cappa goes missing while hunting mushrooms and then reappears, hours later, naked and without any of his belongings, his wife goes to the party to investigate. Jonas claims to have fallen into a hole in the ground, but none can be found. What really happened to him and can it be stopped before things get worse? (Spoiler: they are probably going to get worse). A one-shot adventure for characters of levels 1-4 designed to be dropped into any campaign, inspired by the X-Files (but firmly D&D).