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.
Under Mirt’s Folly is a 200+ location mega-dungeon from Dunromin University Press Mirt the Long Flame was a mighty wizard a hundred years ago. He fell in love, so the story goes, with a beautiful Goddess. Using all his powers he built his true-love a temple and a pleasure palace with the intention of making her his wife. On midsummer’s eve he bent all his powers to calling her down from Olympus, luring her to our world with the sweetest compliments and tempting gifts. After several hours of calling she appeared and he proposed to her, explaining the wonderful life together he had planned for them. She was not amused. The blasted remains of the temple and the derelict palace, all made from the finest white marble, are all that remains of Mirt’s crazy ambitions. The abandoned ruins are now known by all as Mirt’s Folly. Of course, the anger of a mighty Goddess leaves deep scars in the landscape. A hundred years later the hill, despite being in civilised lands, remains an abandoned place of strange magic. It is the haunt of ghosts and monsters and all who go there return changed, fearful and anxious, if they return at all. No one knows the nature of the Curse of Mirt’s Folly and few desire to find out. But Mirt was a great mage! His powerful magic items and his many books of spells and research have never been found, not to mention the vast wealth he had accumulated. All this amazing loot must still be up there, in the ruins of the palace, or perhaps below it, in the catacombs he is said to have dug there. But who is brave enough, or foolish enough, to go and look? WormThe best-selling Under Mirt’s Folly is just one product from Dunromin University Press. As with all our supplements, Under Mirt’s Folly represents astonishing value, offering excellent quality and quantity at rock-bottom prices: A challenging scenario for a party of 4-8 characters of levels 5-8; Written for OSRIC, OSR, 1st and 2nd Edition D&D and compatible with pretty much ANY FRPG you fancy; More than 100 pages with over 250 encounter locations over 8 levels; Four wandering monster tables; A rumour table to inform and confuse; New and inventive uses of all kinds of Monsters; Inspiring new magic items; Tricks, traps and treasure enough to make any player salivate. And all this for less than FOUR BUCKS for the pdf and not much more for the softback or hardback print copy on Print-on-Demand: that's amazing value for such a quality product! But the best quality playing aids at the best possible prices is what we do at DunrominDunromin University Press...
The Tomb of Firkin is a challenging and varied Dungeon Tomb-Raid from Dunromin University Press Designed for 6 to 10 adventurers of 3rd to 5thlevel, this is a Tomb dungeon scenario with a more to it than just Undead. Suitable for any OSR flavour and 1st and 2nd Edition D&D. Thelkor Boghammer and his band of Dwarven murder-hobos opened up the tomb of the Gnomish Firkin family a few months ago. They had a bad time of it and the sole survivor, Tutlin, is drowning his sorrows and desperate to sell the map he made of the tomb to any eager adventurers he comes across. His map contains a clue to a secret way he never realised was there – can any more noble adventurers decipher the clue and find the riches without being slaughtered by the Undead guardians? Or, failing that, could your characters do it? ;-) The Tomb of Firkin is more than just another tomb; hidden in the depths are a humanoid tribe and a secret cult based on geometry. The adventure is 44 pages with quality maps and illustrations to help you visualise the encounters. The style is based on minimal set-up, total carnage, maximum fun - the Tomb of Firkin would also work as SOLO PLAY! SM13 The Tomb of Firkin is available in pdf, softback or hardback Print On Demand at amazing value for such a quality product! But the best quality playing aids at the best possible prices is what we do at Dunromin University Press...
A millennium has passed since the Green Death swept across Hyperborea. In that bygone age of pestilence, a noble family fled the City-State of Khromarium. Far beyond the walls of the city, they entombed themselves in order to elude the inescapable plague. Their necromancer placed them in a deep slumber from which they never wakened. Also he summoned a mythical serpent to guard the vault, a beast reputed to shed gems for tears from eyeless sockets. Tales speak of this beast as the Sightless Serpent. Now, a knave of Khromarium claims to have witnessed the legendary beast. For a pittance he will lead your party to its trail in this swords and sorcery style adventure
"The magic in his flying island sputters and fades. Brave adventurers will enter the wizard’s floating workshop, solve the puzzles and unravel its mysteries before catastrophic failure sends the island crashing down to earth." The sequel to Hideous Daylight (but can be run independently). This adventure focuses heavily on puzzle-solving and exploration 19 keyed locations Written for the Old-School Essentials (OSE) rule system
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.
Under the gods' vigilant gaze, shadows stir in the depths. A hermit hunter found an alien jewel in the woods. Since then, he began to have dreams about strange "gods" and became obsessed with them. Little did he know, these “old gods” of his are an ancient evil buried deep in the underground that now reign in the forest! 'Hidden Gods of the Woods' is a system-agnostic one-page dungeon about the exploration of a secret cave dominated by bizarre aliens. Hidden beneath an abandoned cottage, players will unveil the story of a human hunter insanely in love with creatures from another world. Play to discover what the hell is going on there!
Your party approaches a barrow at the base of the mountain. A raging storm brews overhead, and as you approach, a bolt of lightning strikes down on the peak of the mound, lighting up the world all around you. A thunderclap momentarily deafens you, and as your eyes adjust to the resuming grey of the dark day, you see a flicker of firelight emerging from the two gaping holes built into the side of the hill. You’ve found the pirates camping within the Barrow of the Raging Storm. As I delivered it to my players, the premise of this Midnight Sun adventure is that some pirates have been attacking ships returning from raids. They have been stealing the loot and the corpses of any slain Nords. Among their victims, a ship from Valthis returns to tell them that the pirates sailed upriver (to hex 506), where I placed the Barrow in my Shadowdark RPG campaign. The adventurers started from there and explored the dungeon thoroughly. The adventure was created using the tools described in the Shadowdark RPG core rules. I created it in about 6 hours between 2024-03-08 and 2024-03-09 and ran it for my group on the 9th. It took about 2.25 hours to play to completion. The party consisted of two level 1 characters and one level 2 character. I had so much fun making and running this that I will continue creating more Midnight Sun Adventures, so stay tuned!
There is a witch in the wilds, a goddess unremembered, and a madman. There is a circle of stone - who knows what lies beneath? The villagers are distraught: their children! replaced by fae! The villagers are distraught: who heeded their plea? Ravenous inquisitors, that's who. Oh, and adventurers... This investigative folkcrawl adventure module contains: * an isolated village full of secrets, riddled with strange traditions, * adventure sites and dungeons populated by peculiar denizens, * a small Fae Realm to explore, weird and perilous, * a terrible fae threat and too many curses, * unlikely friends, and foes nobody expects! An OSR adventure module for character levels 3-4, designed for use with the Old-School Essentials ruleset, compatible with most old-school pen-and-paper RPGs. Includes a fully-linked interactive PDF, a fillable Referee's Toolkit, and player-friendly VTT maps.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMof0oYyfVI The people of Vesswood suffered many moons at the hands of the nocturnal demon-worshiping Werewolves of Werdenthal. Spawning from an ancient monastery hidden deep in the old wood, this cult of bloodthirsty beasts grow their pack by infecting nearby villages with their curse. A hefty bounty on each werewolf pelt was set, luring in bands of mercenaries, specially equipped to combat lycanthropes. Dozens of monster hunters tracked the beasts into their lair & assaulted the monastery from all directions. However during the hour of victory, the accursed wolfmen conjured foul magic that caused a cataclysmic earthquake upon the monastery, wiping out hunter & monster alike. Now the monastery lay in ruins at the bottom of a pit of bone, rubble & carrion... with all those pelts, silvered weapons, powerful relics & lycanthropy antidotes left unguarded… hopefully. Includes: 40+ pages and 24 areas of adventure! (4-6 sessions of gameplay) Adventure site offering a multitude of ways to approach & conquer it. An isometric map for players to plan their descent. New Grotesque, Dangerous & Powerful monsters New Magic Items filled with Forbidden Power Starting Village of Vesswood Simple rules for lycanthropy. Night & Day cycle that greatly impacts the adventure site. About: Pit of the Flayed Wolfmen is a location-based adventure centered on exploring a recently decimated hideout of a cult of werewolves that has been taken over by a necromancer on a mission of vengeance against nearby settlements. Designed for Shadowdark characters of levels 4-5. The party will likely be seeking a cure for lycanthropy before the first full moon sets in. On this journey they are likely to fight grotesque undead, bargain with werewolves & evade the deathly gaze of a vengeful necromancer!
Come visit the acid fantasy mini-sandbox of the Misty Isles, a hellish pocket plane that's brutally displaced a bucolic paradise. Marvel at its massive grub-ridges, shake at the body horror of its protein vats—and watch as your players dynamically unleash the Anti-Chaos Index through their own in-game actions. Misty Isles of the Eld is a stand-alone sequel to Slumbering Ursine Dunes and Fever-Dreaming Marlinko. It contains: Four dungeons. The Vat Complex (with its menacing sealed off-west wing, body-horrific industrial process and pocket dimensions), the flying god-prison Monument Five, the meth-fruit Plantation House and Colonel Zogg's Pagoda Bunker. Full “extra-planar” pointcrawl. The wilderness crawl spreads over one main isle and two smaller islets subdivided by massive, movable grubs. An “Anti-Chaos Index.” Through their actions the players shape the very reality of the Isles. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, but always for the weird. A slew of new otherwordly monsters. A large collection of bizarre technological Eldish artifacts and treasure. Includes a random generator for miscellaneous artifacts picked up. A new psionicist player class, the Psychonaut, with a soft scifi twist. Including its own powers and mutations.
This scenario was originally written for use as a competition event at Games Day 1987. We have published the adventure so that you will be able to reproduce the competition. The scenario also serves as an introduction to the forthcoming supplement detailing the land of Lustria. (see WFRP World Map, p272). At Games Day the party had to play the part of a small band of pygmies, and we have included details of this party so that you can use them too. You should carefully read the notes on Witchdoctors, Ancestor Spirits and the spell Control Spirits before starting play. If a conventional party is used here there is a significant chance that players will lose favourite characters. Much of the scenario is geared towards pygmies, (some tunnel heights, the presence of pygmy ancestors and so on), and a party without access to pygmy-magic may find some areas extremely difficult. Pgs. 11-27 Published by Games Workshop
An OSR adventure module for character levels 5-8 -[or a funnel for character level 0]- designed for Old-School Essentials, compatible with most old-school pen-and-paper RPGs. When the One God's faith washed over the world, the Old Gods of the forest fought back. They fought back with fire, with blood and with ice, and with every season. And they lost. Last night, the cathedral built on the site of their defeat burned, unearthing forgotten stairs... A journey begins, from that unholy crypt through a hellish fairy realm, to the deadly, blasphemous truth. - A busy abbey and its denizens: drop it into your campaign, as a regular stop or base of operations. - A mythic peregrination, inside & beyond the faithtrap dungeon that awaits underneath: 29-ish rooms puzzling rooms and areas to explore, and survive. - Five paladins who will help (or hinder) the PCs during the adventure, and an oracular procedure to bring them to life. - Oh, and too many gods... Includes a fully-linked interactive PDF, a Referee's Toolkit (printable and fillable tracking sheet, player handouts, and maps) as well as player-friendly VTT maps.
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.
In an age obscured by mist and memory, Sir Galen the Brave and his knights struck down the Drake of Crestmoor with steel and flame. But as the years turned, and the heroes returned to dust, their deeds faded into myth. Doubt lurked where awe once dwelled, and in time, the bards sang of lesser deeds. In the hollows of the wilderness, the stones of their forgotten tomb crumbled beneath ivy and shadow. The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor is a short dungeon crawl for four characters of levels 1-2 using Shadowdark RPG ©. The adventure is designed to be easy to run for new game masters. Players should not be cavalier in their approach to this dungeon. There are threats in the tomb which could easily kill foolhardy player characters. Long ago a band of knights led by Sir Galen slew the black dragon known as the Drake of Crestmoor - a malevolent creature whose true name was Morghast the Black. With his dying breath, the dragon cursed Galen and his friends that they would never find rest in death. Today, the once well-kept tomb has fallen into ruin. Some time ago a band of kobolds moved into the subterranean mausoleum and began using it as a base of operations. More recently, a lizardfolk shaman named Kall’eth and his warband arrived and took over, pressing the kobolds into their service. Kall’eth came to Galen’s tomb to recover the knight’s Fireblade - a sword of dwarvish make used to slay Morghast long ago. The tomb is crawling with kobolds, lizardfolk, and the restless husks of Galen and his compatriots. A magic sword, a missing wedding ring, and plenty of adventure await you in…The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor!
With the rising of the Blood Moon, the accursed abode of the Blood King returns to this world. The lord of all vampires comes to claim the blood that is owed to him. His halls contain treasures and secrets that would make any ambitious adventurer abandon reason and caution to seek them out. Will you risk your soul for gold and glory in the Halls of the Blood King?
The rich merchant Quintus Felerius has not slept in a week. He is paranoid of vengeful nightmare wraiths that seek to kill him in his sleep. Exhausted and delirious from his lack of sleep he hires experienced adventurers to stand guard in his bedroom while he sleeps. Little do they know that the curse upon Quintus is about to sweep them into the Nighmare Zone of the vengeful Ikari... Nightmare Zone of the Ikari is a Shadowdark RPG adventure designed for 7th level characters that takes them inside the mind of their troubled patron after he and his previous mercenaries were cursed by a vengeful Oneiromancer. Explore his troubled past and see if you can keep him from panicking and taking all of your minds with him. The adventure is designed as a oneshot, but can be incorporated into an ongoing campaign pretty easily since it takes place in another dimension.
The Orc BattleForge is a challenging but traditional Dungeon Hack from Dunromin University Press Designed for 4 to 8 adventurers of 5th to 8th level, this is a large dungeon scenario with a wilderness approach for any OSR and 1st and 2nd Edition D&D. When the Witchking Kzenzakai was defeated his hordes fled but the forward bases for his invasion remained. Even though the war ended a few years ago, the remnants of the Witch-King’s beaten army remain scattered around the western borders of the Land of the Young and far across, and below, the Wild Lands. Before his assault the Witch-King built many forward supply bases in secret. Called Battleforges, these underground cavern systems were supply dumps, resupply depots, barracks and access down into the Darkworld. An Orc Battleforge has been located by a Troll-Hunter in the foothills of the Horn Mountains. Now the King is offering serious gold for some stout-hearted adventurers to go and clear the place out. Are YOU up to the challenge? The Orc Battleforge offers a simply set up slug-fest for an adventuring party with a need for some stress-relieving die-rolling. The design is based on minimal set-up, total carnage, maximum fun. SM11 The Orc Battleforge is available in pdf, softback or hardback Print On Demand at amazing value for such a quality product! But the best quality playing aids at the best possible prices is what we do at Dunromin University Press...
A level 2–3 sewer adventure by Glynn Seal. PCs plumb fetid sewers and recently-revealed secret halls, in search of a lost worker. In these forsaken chambers, they may find answers and treasures, but may also come face-to-face with a bloated monstrosity and its depraved followers. For Old-School Essentials (OSE) Included as one of four adventures in "Old-School Essentials Adventure Anthology 1"
The dwarves of these mountains are a good and trustworthy folk, friends to both men and elves dwelling in the region. But their ancient homeland hides many secrets that they might otherwise wish forgotten. Recent rumors have surfaced that a long lost dwarven hall has been discovered. There are whispers that the place was once the center of an evil dwarven cult, though the dwarven authorities will say nothing of it. A recently acquired treasure map points to an ancient dwarven tunnel complex. Could this be the place? Are these the dangerous halls that were once the home for a dwarven cult worshipping an entity they called the Earth Dragon? Advanced Adventures #43 The Warrens of Zagash is an OSRIC(tm) module designed for adventurers of 6th to 8th level.