The lord of a local realm is having his council members systematically killed or cast out for treason with little to no evidence to support the claims. This has been occurring for some time and a local shaman by the name of Borjah thinks he knows the cause. In his visions, he has seen a strange spirit shifting the shadows, a puppet master using the lord as its personal servant by warping his mind. This entity is slowly gaining power in the city and increasing its dominance over Lord Kestyl. Borjah attempted to warn the council of this corruption, but all those he informed ended up dead a few days later, so now he is taking matters into his own hands . . . with a bit of help from some willing adventurers of course. Borjah has a few strands of Lord Kestyl's hair, enough to create a strange potion for the party to consume. A potion that will link their minds to that of the lord and be able to fight back against the corruption that has taken hold. All they need to do is wait until his mind is at its most vulnerable . . . when he is asleep. Then, and only then, they can plunge into the mind of this once nobleman and drive back the forces of darkness that threaten to destabilize the entire political landscape of the area. The potion is powerful. Dying while in this dream state cause such severe mental trauma that it usually results in the death of that individual in the real world, so the party will need to be careful. The rules of the normal world don't necessarily apply in the realm of dreams, and as they close in on the entity things are sure to grow more and more chaotic and illogical. Find out if your players have what it takes to fight back against an invisible evil using nothing but their strength of will!
The follow up to the ratfolk warlock lair, A Rat Among Us, Part One. It is suitable for four or five 3rd-level characters. The lairs can be run separately or together as one longer adventure. The Demon Lord of Rats is making his play for control of the city. Will our stalwart adventurers find the source of his power and thwart him?
The temple bells rang out, their crystal hollow-overtones calling gently to the dispersed worshipers dwelling within the underground sun temple. The Temple of the Sun was itself an enigma, a place dedicated to the sun but hidden far underground, shielded from the mighty rays of the light of life, forced to do so for both secrecy and protection. Internal holy radiance was the heart of the temple, bathing Flaesuros' children with the light of the holy orb of light, emanations from a Sliver of the Sun, an actual piece of the massive orb of life above; this was the logic behind the temple's secrecy, her many levels of protection and traps, the reason why priests who fervently revered light now clung to the shadows. This adventure includes: Puzzles to keep your players engaged and inspired New monsters including the Skeletal Ash Beast Ancient runes which can be used to solve puzzles and advance in the crypt A new magic item which may be donned by a single PC to great effect An artifact which has the potential to either change the world or destroy it
The party has received word from the citizens (or in NQ2) of a troublesome cult hidden in Meglos Peaks. Apparently a stronghold exists near the mouth of the Tora River. Putting an end to this group of religious fanatics would certainly put another feather in your fledgling career caps!
Bakunawa rose from the sea, her scaled and slick and massive form rising up over cities and mountains, her teeth glistening and her eyes filled with desire, and she opened her mouth wide. The moon, Mayari, looked on as the Celestial Eater grew closer and closer, stopped only when Haliya arrived and struck the great serpent with her sword. Haliya's mask reflected the warrior goddess' rage as she fought the serpent back into the sea, forcing it to retreat. It would only be a matter of time before an attempt on the moon's life would be made again, be it Bakunawa or one of the other Celestial Eaters. And as she laid to rest, she knew both herself and the mortal races would need to be ready. The Islands of Sina Una is a new Campaign Setting for 5th Edition that pulls from precolonial mythology and culture of the Philippines. In the time since Bakunawa's last attack the mortal races that inhabit the island recover slowly as life goes on. While some do battle with the monsters that roam these lands, others work as intermediaries, communicating between spirits and deities to help protect and guide their people. And yet, there are still others who choose to align with the terrible Celestial Eaters, to destroy the moon and bring about the end of all things.
"The Aboleth's Grotto" is a nihileth lair suitable for four 10th-level characters. The adventure can be completed in one session. The small town of Springwell harbors a secret that almost nobody knows about, and those who do conveniently ignore: it sights right over an unoccupied settlement of the deep caverns of the underworld.
The Bell Wood has always been rumored to be a dangerous place, full of strange creatures and odd happenings. Timber from the wood is highly sought after for its reputed magical properties, so brave foresters sometimes dare the wood to harvest trees to finance their futures. But this time, people are dying. Loggers are vanishing, their mutilated bodies recovered from the undergrowth hours or days later. What has changed in the wood? Can anyone solve the mystery? And can they survive the investigation? A Triple Kingdom Adventure.
A Tutorial and Alternate Start for Lost Mines of Phandelver Before Phandelver is a tutorial adventure designed to help new players and DMs be better introduced to Dungeons & Dragons. Crafted with best educational practices in mind and covering important details of preparation and mindset often overlooked, especially by new DMs, Before Phandelver will help the Lost Mines of Phandelver truly become the adventure worthy of inclusion in the Starter Set.
Today's offering was our convention scenario for SkyCon 2018. The scenario was written for younger gamers with some combat challenges along with a lot of roleplaying opportunities. It is easy enough to drop into your own campaign for an entertaining little adventure.
The village of Hillthorpe has been under the "protection" of a rough sleeping stranger. The extortion began with demands for a bushel of wheat or a basket of apples, accompanied by threats of rats and mice being sent to ravage the sick and sleeping, and to ruin the stores. Over time, the demands escalated, reaching the point where the village could no longer afford to pay without starving to death over winter (3 sacks of grain, a barrel of ale, and all the ripe cheese you have each week!). As a result, the village is seeking outside help.
The denizens of the Old City have made some unusual sightings in the festering refuse pits on the outskirts of the city, and while such reports are seldom taken terribly seriously, the mysterious disappearance of a beloved figure in the poor part of Port Nyanzaru has folks on edge. Can you get to the bottom of this? Part One of The Rot from Within Trilogy.
The Five Cities are dying. Their water sources are drying up, and the brightest of their youth are leaving, lured out into the desert by an unknown power. Enaxi, the unifier of the Five Cities, now a lamia, is weary of watching their descendants ruin their great works. The Council won’t let young people restore the Five Cities to their former glory, so Enaxi is gathering them. They’ll start their own paradise and doom the Five Cities… unless the heroes can convince them otherwise.
The Ghost Tribe of Orcs have been driven from their home under Wyvern Tor by some terrible evil and have traveled to the top of the hill overlooking Phandalin where they camped last night. Their chief, driven mad by unknown horrors, prepares to attack the city and claim it as his new home. The heroes, who raced to the town ahead of the orc tribe, spend the night helping to prepare defenses and rest when they can. Can the heroes help defend the town or will the orcs wipe out the inhabitants of Phandalin? Once the town is safe, how will the PCs handle a moral dilemma? Orcs Invade Phandalin is the second of four parts in the After Lost Mine series. It will play out the invasion of Phandalin using the new mass combat rules from Unearthed Arcana. Part III will be the trip to the orc’s former cave settlement and then into the darkness beneath. Part IV will have the party deal with the terror from the Underdark that drove the orcs out.
In the fetid waters of the Rotbog, the Wraith’s Breath lies wrecked. Those squalid remains were once the proud vessel of the Dread Pirate Ghostbeard, during his fanatical pursuit of the Lost Gold of Tagua. Whether he found a piece is not known, though it is said that a mere touch of the treasure can infect one’s soul with the ‘Gold’s Will’ – a compulsion to reunite the scattered booty. Perhaps that explains Ghostbeard’s mad obsession. Risen of the Rotbog is a short, undead-pirate-themed encounter for four to six 2nd level characters that builds towards a chilling showdown with the Dread Pirate Ghostbeard. It can be easily slotted into an ongoing campaign, or can work as a short one-shot. The file includes a battle map - one version for the players, and one with GM annotations.
Unmerciful is a detective scenario that focuses on roleplay and investigation. It is an event based quest, meaning that things will happen with or without PCs interaction. The DM receives a list with all the murders and details about them, a list of NPCs that are relevant to the case and how, and one of the ways players could track the killer down. A party of any level can be challanged with this scenario and it can be played in any (low) fantasy setting. Adventure Synopsis: The players are hired to find out who has brutally killed Father Marius. After inspecting the murder scene, players can be sure that killer is driven with revenge and that this is only the first murder. Good old detective work brings them closer to the killer, but also to the fact that everything isn’t like it seems. As the body count rises, players must decide whom to aid in the final confrontation, the Church or the Punisher. Published by: Adventurer's Inn
"I was taken by the evil dogs while camping near Agav's bog. They dragged me into their lair, and it wasn't until I escaped that I knew the truth of the place: a great and bony wing buried in the side of a hill. They chained me in the dark with a candle made from foul wax and forced me to dig at the marrow. Their bonds were poorly made, and I fled several days later while they slept. What purpose did they have in mining that marrow? I cannot say..." The Marrow Mines are dug in and around the fossilized wing of an unnamed leviathan. A small pack of kobolds lives and works in the mines, which are heavily trapped. The kobolds defend the area fiercely and patrol the region around the mine. At night, a handful of urds make aerial surveys of the territory. The urds live in the deep reaches of the wing's tips.
High tide is coming in in this week’s encounter: Sea Trolls in the Net, a tongue-in-cheek combat encounter about a troll troubling fishermen and getting tangled up in their net. This encounter works best when it can add flavor to a grim, seaside locale as a random encounter the adventurers stumble across while exploring. While exploring a blighted shoreline on some forsaken coast, the adventurers find a sea troll feasting upon fishing nets full of freshly caught fish while their fishermen flee from the shore.
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!
Irtep’s Dish is an adventure for characters from 6th to 8th level. This adventure requires the skills of a rogue or some other expert at traps, a cleric or character that can heal allies and offer beneficial bonuses to the team, a wizard or other master of the arcane arts, and a fighter to take care of “the heavy lifting.”
With land trade threatened, the city of Melvaunt is relying on sea trade to get goods into and out of the city. An island rises out of the Moonsea just outside of Melvaunt Harbor, and initial exploration indicates the island is a threat. The origins and nature of the island must be ascertained before trade is shut down completely. The characters explore a mysterious island and help 'living souls' disrupt a ritual being performed by cultists of Cyric. Part Three of the Misaligned Trilogy