Brambletoe Hall has ever been deep, warm and filled with mirth. Here, the good mayor Willie Brambletoe has long presided over a board of warm mutton, fresh apples, berries, peaches and the like, as well as wondrous breads, warm butter and cool drink. Mayor Willie invites all, inviting may various and sundry folks to sit and eat with him, or to gather about his great hall and make merry, pass the time and exchange news of distant happenings in exotic lands. But something has changed in that noble Halfling's Halls and a Shadow of Evil has taken up abode there. Not many days past, in those deep hours before the dawn, the sounds of merriment changed to cries of despair. A haunting came to the Good man's home and left an air filled with the noise of terror and a foul odor of unrepentant evil. Abandoned now, a shadow has hung over the hall ever since. Foul play or murder, none knew. But the Shadow of Fear has spread, stalking the environs of Newbriar. And the locals now say Newbriar has come at last to know the shallow welcome of the other world. In fear, the folk of Newbriar have called for aid, sending riders forth to find courageous heroes willing to rid the town and its sufferages of the terror of the Shadows of the Halfling Hall.
The Golem Master, creator of pricey artificial servants, hasn’t been seen around for some time. His house stands dark and silent. Dare you enter?
Ancient port city on the edge of a desert. The city is stratified by social class and some of the slaves have formed a cannibal cult to Kthulhu. City + hexcrawl + dungeon. The Anthropophagi of Xambaala™ takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is inspired by Robert E. Howard’s “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula” and by various short tales of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. It is designed for use with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea ™(AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™. This work is both a setting and an adventure. The setting describes the town of Xambaala, noting key people, locations, and local lore. The adventure proper provides players with a variety of environments and the several factions fighting over them for their own goals. With a bit of skill and luck, stalwart adventurers may emerge richer and maybe wiser. The situation that will develop in Xambaala will be determined by the players’ choices.
An investigative city crawl adventure for Shadowdark RPG (or any OSR-style system), designed for experienced players levels 1-2 Set in the decaying city of Brannam, players unravel a web of fear, blood, and buried secrets. A local alchemist has begun killing in secret, rekindling old fears of an old terror. The city's decline threatens to spiral into collapse, and far below, something older and hungrier waits to wake. This adventure includes: 3 separate dungeons (The flooded Sewers, the forgotten Catacombs, and the cursed Ruins of Edric von Braech's keep) Open ended design and layered mysteries with multiple outcomes and failure states A fully explorable city with random encounters, evolving factions and escalating panic. Custom rules for spell mishaps, nightly murder checks and decay events as Brannam unravels Modular content designed to drop into your campaign
Until about three years ago, the peculiar town of Port Greely was renowned as a prolific exporter of crustaceans. Then the Greely lobstermen severed all ties with outside partners. Subsequent attempts at renegotiation were shunned. More recently, a small group of Fishmongers’ Guild representatives from the City-State of Khromarium has gone missing in Port Greely, and answers have been less than forthcoming. At present, the Guild seeks answers. It wants to know what became of its representatives, and it wishes to re-establish its lucrative partnership with the Port Greely lobstermen. Your party have been contracted to help resolve The Mystery at Port Greely in this swords and sorcery style adventure!
Local villagers whisper of a mysterious place deep in the marsh - a place shrouded in mist and dotted with barrow mounds, ruined columns, and standing stones. The tomb-robbers who explore beneath the mounds - or rather the few who return - tell tales of labyrinthine passages, magnificent grave goods, and terrifying creatures waiting in the dark. Are you brave (or foolish) enough to enter Barrowmaze? Barrowmaze Complete (BMC) is a classic megadungeon for use with any old school fantasy role-playing game. BMC includes everything in Barrowmaze I and II in the same book in addition to new material, art, layout, and cover art by Ex-TSR artist Erol Otus. Barrowmaze Complete will keep your players on their toes and your campaign going strong. BMC is brought to you by the Old School Renaissance (so don’t forget your 10’ pole). This edition includes art by the aforementioned TSR artists Erol Otus, as well as Tim Truman, Jim Holloway. New old-school artists include Peter Pagano, Cory Hamel, Stefan Poag, Zhu Bajie, Stephan Thompson, and others.
People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.
The Ocaulin Cult has stumbled upon the tomb, seeking to awaken an abomination known as the Spawn of Ocaulin. They have kidnapped a merchant’s daughter, Mornea, to serve as the final sacrifice for the creature. Meanwhile, undead have escaped the tomb, plaguing nearby settlements. The PCs must navigate the dangers of the tomb, confront the cult, and prevent the Spawn of Ocaulin from being unleashed upon the world. Multi-level tomb filled with traps, and undead guardians. Dynamic events and rumors in the City of Omere
Goblins have returned to the area of Westgate, seeking an ancient magical item constructed for their foul kind. In their search, the goblins attack an imperial convoy secretly disguised as a merchant’s wagon. The knowledge that goblins are near must be kept quiet from the public, thus a small band of adventurers is required to seek out the creatures and the stolen magic item, deep inside the warrens of the great goblin chief! But the adventure does not end there...
This adventure is more of a classic dungeon crawl, themed around the accidentally terrifying dreamscape of an elven girl trapped in a nightmare of her own making. The dungeon shifts and exits move about as the party explores, making each run through the dungeon a unique experience and allowing for infinite replays of the same adventure.
The ruined Thorp of Rhu once produced honey, apples, hard cider, and mead. Villagers now stay away as they believe Rhu is cursed. Years ago a witch, Katla, was cheated from a reward promised for chasing away an attacking giant. Furious, she waited for her chance at revenge. Over a year, Katla created many small sack dolls and gifted them to Rhu’s children. One night, each doll animated, killed the sleeping adults, and set the village on fire. Now Sorcha, the village elder, asks the PCs to go to Rhu to locate a lost dwarven friend, help a restless soul, and find out what really happened to Rhu long ago. These outsider sack doll spirits take great pleasure in tormenting and slaying weaker creatures. At Rhu, the PCs encounter murderous sack dolls, learn the villagers’ & dwarf’s fate, parlay with spirits, and clash with Bloody Tears, the witch’s minion & spirit familiar. Published by Wicked Cool Games
Short free/pwyw adventure for Shadowdark RPG or similar roleplaying games. Months ago the snow elf princess Ysren was pressured by her mother to begin accepting suitors. To thwart them, she vowed her suitors that anyone who brought her a piece of the moon would have her hand in marriage. The sorcerer-prince Sandor of Excelsis took up the challenge & began building an ambitious spiraling tower atop the highest nearby peak. Once it was high enough, he would begin a ritual that would open a portal from the top of the tower to the moon. One cold day all communication with the tower seized & the “Spiral Prince” has not been heard from ever since. King Galian has sent men in search of his lost prince, but none have succeeded in besting the frigid mountains. He offers a hefty bounty for the return of his son. Will you brave the rime-covered cliffs of Mt. Excelsis to save the prince... or perhaps scour his tower for arcane knowledge & regal wealth?
Dreams of the sleeping wizard seep into reality. Manifest familiars war over the fate of a remote islet. An infinite garden houses an escaped experiment. The god of purity is fooled for his blessings. Into the nightmare we go. 16 pages contain 3000+ words describing 10+ keyed areas to explore (complete the wandering monsters table), 10+ friends and foes to talk to, 10 magic items to use, and thousands of gold worth of treasure to plunder. The adventure is designed for B/X, or like-systems. It is suitable for 4 to 6 characters of levels 1 to 3. It is heavily inspired by the dungeon synth album The Sleeping Wizard by Umbría, which may serve as a soundtrack.
Precis Intermedia brings back this setting sourcebook for the original Roleplaying Game (First Edition/OD&D/0E). Originally released in 1977 by Wee Warriors, The Misty Isles briefly describes the people and events for nine islands, and includes maps for each. Each is full of inter-related danger, intrigue, and adventure that can be woven into entire fantasy campaigns. While hit points and armor class are provided when needed, the First Edition RPG or an OSR equivalent (B/X recommended) is required for actual rules and their descriptions. This piece of gaming history is a must for collectors and old school gamers. With the original on the extremely rare list, this classic reprint of The Misty Isles has been remastered for a clean print, and is readily available at a low cost.
From Exalted Funeral: The snows are alive. A soft, cold spirit courses through them. Her lace threads the world; watching, drinking, listening, stroking, soothing, killing. Her touch is soft and icy. She is Winterwhite, the daughter of the Waterdrinker and the Northwind, and she is a terrible god. An avatar of ice and hunger, of visions and death. Dooms and devastations to visit upon a cosy roleplaying setting. Longwinter is the RPG sandbox of a realm that has broken its vows to Winterwhite and will now pay the cold price. This book contains secret knowledge and mechanics for the referee. The setting is profoundly close to that of Witchburner (by the same author and artist). This sandbox includes: ~110 pages of content. some colour illustrations. 3 variations of the Brezim map to represent changes as Winterwhite's curse bites harder. faction trackers for the 5 key factions and over 40 events to represent different groups growing or waning in strength depending on player actions. detailed weather and event tables to simulate a living setting. detailed encounter tables for night and day, which grow harsher as Winterwhite's curse grows stronger. several more tables to generate corpses, caches, vaults, and memories of summer. optional playing card-based escape mechanic with 54 different locations, challenges and characters encountered in each location. alternatively, the escape section serves as a resource to mine for winter locations, challenges, and characters. Be aware: This is a book of factions and winter encounters for the full-fledged mini-setting detailed in the Longwinter: Visitor's Book. The content is mostly system-neutral. It references some 5E or d20-style conventions, but should work with most low-power systems easily. Many of the encounters, and particularly the escape, will not work with characters resistant to cold, capable of flight, or otherwise able to avoid the environmental challenges. Finally, thank you for considering running Longwinter for your players. It is a bit of a tribute to the mountains and myths I've walked and heard over many years, and I hope you will find fuel for many adventures and good memories herein. It has also been a challenging project to prepare. Many people helped make it as good as it is. The fault for all errors and typos is my own. —Luka, December 2020
The Hyqueous Vaults is a site-based dungeon with water and necromancy themes, some tricky/puzzling situations, and plenty of opportunity for combat. A challenging and lucrative module for 6-8 characters, averaging 3rd level. A centuries-old map leads to a mysterious cliffside complex, rumored to be flooded, and supposedly holding a dead necromancer’s fortune. Sages believe the arm-length metal implement accompanying the map must be some sort of key. The complex stands ripe for exploration by a party sufficiently strong and sneaky to wrest any treasures from the depths within. Written in celebration of OSRIC’s 10th Birthday.
An Early-Level Adventure Game Module Suitable For The Osric Rpg System Or Any Other 1e Compatible System. A Shaft Has Been Discovered Below The Old Watchtower Outside Of Town. Worse Yet, A Boy Has Fallen Into It! Your Party Must Race Against Time To Save The Boy And Sift Through The Remains Of The Watchtower On The Hill!
The adventure text was written by a neural network (Talk to Transformer) and compiled by a human editor. It is surprisingly usable. The adventure is centered upon the dangerous and thoroughly weird Tomb of the Daughter, the burial place and temple of an ancient Goddess. Explore several rooms connected by teleport systems, fight strange creatures, and perhaps thwart a demon summoning.
Strange doings are underfoot in the wild hills bordering the realm of decent and civilized folks. Villagers and cattle have gone missing; woodcutters have disappeared; misshapen beings have been seen shuffling through the forests. Some brave villagers have tracked a group of stolen oxen as far as the rocky banks of a small river in the hills. The trail disappeared down into a fissure in the limestone rock, where a fast-running stream plunges down to the dark caverns below. Gird your loins, stand behind the dwarf, and get ready to face The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom!
Into the Unknown! The wilderness around the cave stronghold called Gold Hill Trading Post is dangerous and scattered with ruins of large and small settlements. Will your party find fame and fortune, solve ancient mysteries, or just disappear into the Borderlands like so many that came before? This module contains underground and wilderness maps that form a detailed adventure and mini-campaign for beginning characters, including an abandoned village, haunted graveyard, ruined church, traders’ camp, wilderness encounters, and monster lairs. It also includes a ruined keep and dungeon as well as a mapped and detailed “base camp” stronghold. The module is designed for use with all “classic” fantasy roleplaying game rulebooks or sets for Basic- and Expert-level players and gamemasters. It can be converted for use with “Advanced” fantasy game rules and compatible systems with a minimum of effort. Cover art by William McAusland! Print version (with full art) available at www.barrataria.com. Picked as one of the best by Bryce Lynch at tenfootpole.org!