Something fell. A sickly gloaming lit up the night like mock daylight, just for a moment, and then the hills trembled. Now, an alien entity lies brooding in a crater gouged out of the moor. Local folk are enraptured with the toothsome jelly exuded by this being, but are blind to the true nature of the events unfolding in their rustic little backwater.
The hunt is on! Agents have hired out the infamous Redcaps to raid along the Hruesen River and Baron Botkin wants them brought to justice. A mad run by the goblins left a trail of ruin along the river road but the time to act is now, before the trail goes cold. the evil doers broke off the raid and now lie in hiding somewhere in the Barren Wood. There in the deeps of the forest stands the legendary Slag Heap - an ancient complex of unknown origin and terrifying reputation for years ago the Heap served the Horned God's minions as a bastion against the fey of the Barren Wood. But now all the forest is hostile to outsiders, whether good or ill. The men of the Barren Wood are fierce, independent, and distrustful of outsiders. Facing them is a daunting task in the best of times and now they seem to be protecting one of their own. Discovering the real powers in this region only brings the characters closer to doom as they travel to piles and heaps of slag and detritus that was once a glorious abode and temple to the dark powers before the age of man. Also available for 5E
A 1st-level dungeon crawl for Shadowdark RPG where the characters delve into a ruined citadel hunting for legendary treasures while avoiding the wrath of the infamous scarlet minotaur! Inside the citadel are secrets about the downfall of the warrior-cultists who once ruled it, three legendary weapons they wielded, and several factions of intelligent creatures to turn into allies or enemies. This adventure is part of the free, digital Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set, which comes with two 68-page booklets (Player and Game Master guides), 8 pre-made characters with gorgeous art, and a form-fillable character sheet. Shadowdark RPG is what classic, old-school fantasy gaming would look like after being redesigned with 50 years of innovation. It's the world's greatest roleplaying game in a whole new light! Download the free Quickstart set here: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark
The Bark Witch of Carcass Country is a procedural pointcrawl for FRONTIER SCUM. It consists of tables encompassing: Adventure hooks to lure scum to the swamp Antagonist motivation to add depth and guide the story Locations that provide (un)safe spaces for PCs Exploration via an overloaded, exploding encounter table that escalates the plot Mundane and strange creatures with full stat blocks Signs of the Bark Witch to sow dread and chaos The module can be run purely randomly, as a pick-and-choose toolkit, or anywhere in between. Depending on the rolls and approach, it works as a one-shot or a multi-session adventure. The Bark Witch of Carcass Country is an independent production by Walton Wood and is not affiliated with Den of Druids. It is published under the FRONTIER SCUM Third-Party License. FRONTIER SCUM is copyright Den of Druids
Prison of the Hated Pretender is an introductory adventure for 4-6 characters levels 0-1. Originally published on the Dungeon of Signs blog, it is a short drop-in location-based adventure with a couple of interesting puzzles, a lack of "book" monsters, implacable foes with an obvious weakness, and a very weird roleplaying opportunity. The new 2020 edition republished by Hydra Collective adds suggested guidance for new Dungeonmasters who grew up with 5th edition and don't know how old-school works. Stats for both BECMI and 5th edition, and setting neutral (though there are some implied things about the history of the world).
Adventure in a desolate magic-stained wasteland where fabulous crystal spires and fortresses plummet from the skies to tempt the desperate and the bold with magical gems and golden treasures. Find your fortune or find your death as you plunder the fallen sky tomb of an Empyrean despot. SCHEME with the unnatural denizens of the Crystal Tomb! UNRAVEL the secrets of the Dead King and his realm of misrule! LOOT strange magics and Opulent Treasures from beyond the sky's vault! A complete adventure for Level 1 characters and an introduction to both the dungeon crawl style play and the Crystal Frontier setting. Written with the new referee and players unfamiliar with older style games in mind, Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier is built to start a campaign, use as a one-shot, or to drop in as an adventure locale in almost any fantasy world. The adventure has been designed for and tested with OSE, but is easy to use with any of the wayward offspring of the early editions of the first fantasy roleplaying game. Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier emphasizes problem solving, faction intrigue, and exploration in the tradition of classic dungeon crawl adventures, but with a phantasmagoric fantasy Western aesthetic. NOW AVAILABLE FOR ERRANT AND OLD SCHOOL ESSENTIALS!
An adventure for starting characters When vicious bandits waylay a caravan bound for an outpost on the edge of civilization, the player characters are the only survivors, trapped and lost in a hostile wilderness. If they would live to see another day, they must learn to work together and discover the people they might one day become. This adventure is designed for a group of starting characters and is especially suited to new players. Published by Schwalb Entertainment.
Dungeon Full of Monsters is a modular megadungeon for use with Labyrinth Lord and other old school fantasy role-playing games. The megadungeon is composed of 50 individual sections, separated into 5 different levels. You can assemble these in any configuration you like, either randomly or not, either before the campaign or on-the-fly in play. You can also use these sectiosn on their own, without reference to the larger dungeon itself. The second half of the book contains dozens of monsters, illustrated in full colour, often with multiple variations and types. Combined with the unique monsters located in specific dungeon sections, this book contains over 150 different monster stat blocks. There are criminal organizations, insane cultists, meddling deities, evil wizards, undead kings, infernal demons and other invaders from beyond the stars, numerous unspeakable horrors and arcane beasts, and even a few rival adventurers. Use these monsters with this dungeon or any other. Specific conversion guidelines for The Nightmares Underneath are also provided.
A curse is upon the land. In the old barrow long forgotten a forgotten general awaits trying to confront death, and until heroes can guide his way, the land suffers. Grave of the Heartless takes the adventurers to an unusual dungeon bordering the realm of the dead, and here a heart beats. Dare our heroes step into the darkness, where one step too far can lead them to face Death. Grave of the Heartless is a low-level OSR adventure suited for Labyrinth Lord and other oldschool retro clones. The adventure was originally written for the Danish Living Campaign The Hinterlands, and it is for the first time presented in English. The adventure introduces the players to a different tradition of adventures, and it one with a focus on exploration and encountering the unknown. The adventure includes new magical items and new monsters to challenge your players. Grave of the Heartless can be played as a sequel to Tomb of the Dragon's Heart and The Flooded Temple.
A 1st-level dungeon crawl heavy on exploration, factions, and sorcerous wonder for Shadowdark RPG! Go below the dripping ruins of Bittermold Keep to hunt for legendary treasures and face off against three competing factions that want to claim the Hideous Halls: the degenerate Bittermold family, the wild halfling Howlers, and the disgruntled mutant catfish. The characters might even encounter the abominable god-ooze, Mugdulblub! Winner of "The Best" rating from tenfootpole.org! View the adventure walkthrough video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVJ-t7qMjPo This adventure is part of Cursed Scroll Zine 1: Diablerie! Inside the zine, you'll find cursed knights channeling demonic power, mist-addled forests where witches and warlocks stalk the trees, and crumbling castles housing ancient, eldritch creatures. Shadowdark RPG is what classic, old-school fantasy gaming would look like after being redesigned with 50 years of innovation. It's the world's greatest roleplaying game in a whole new light! Learn more and download the free rules here: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark
Three dungeons in one! The party is given a "dimension shifting device" and sets out to explore a 15-area cave, simultaneously occupied by the DEMON CORSAIRS, the remnants of an ASTEROID MINING OPERATION, and the MONASTERY OF TRANQUILITY & TRANSCENDENCE! The three dungeons are presented in three columns, so when the characters shift from one dimension into another, it's easy to find the corresponding area description. For use with old-school or OSR RPG systems. Recommended for character levels 3-4. Published by Eldritch Fields.
...There are older things in these forests too; the knights did not just battle the pagan kings of man but also the forest dwellers; the wodewose. Spend too long in any tavern or listen to a village alewife and you’ll hear stories of knights and wodewose duking it out in little patches of now cleared pastures. One of these little villages is the village of Levnec, a sad little town ruled by a self appointed lord banished from his seaside villa far to the south. His name is Lord Kristoph and he has been looking to hire some transient sell swords to solve his problem. Some of the townsfolk are (repeatedly) going missing and others are refusing to work, even after examples were beaten and hobbled by his men. Seeing as the townsfolk are blaming the local Gnomes, he would simply like these drifters to saunter in the wood, murder some Gnomes and bring them back to show the townsfolk there is nothing to fear (except him) and to get back to work.
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.
Long ago the dwarf-like "Dverg" established a "forge" hidden deep beneath the earth where they forged weapons of "cold" iron. Cold iron was considered a far superior material and was especially effective against Trolls and could even damage ghosts. The forge is thought have been long abandoned and priceless artifacts of great power are rumored to lie forgotten beneath the Altis mountains. Among them is rumored to be the fabled Axe of Mortality - a weapon said to be powerful enough to slay a god. Is your party brave enough to venture out in search of these valuables? Flameless Forge of the Dverg is a free/pwyw dungeon crawling adventure designed for level 1-3 Shadowdark RPG characters. The adventure is assumed to take place in a viking-esque fantasy setting, but can be adapted by tweaking some names and figuring out replacements for the nordic gods.
Thunder and quake have come to the old town. Towers crumble, homes tumble, the quick become the dead. What omen could be more obvious? The Pharaoh Fish under the mountain is displeased. This God must be propitiated. Brave heroes must venture to buy the city's salvation. At the very least, the Town Council needs to appear in control and send some 'expert adventurers' into the depths. A fantasy pointcrawl adventure for characters of 5th to 6th level. Local town, 17 pointcrawl regions, dungeon inside the Pharaoh Fish. Pointcrawl mechanics for Old-School Essentials. Keyed in a quick-reference, bullet point format. Unlabelled map included for VTT use.
Baron Ketterall’s lands are beset by a plague of marauding goblins! Goblins you say? Pah! Who's afraid of few poxy goblins? But two experienced parties have already gone looking for the goblin lair – never to be heard of again. Poxy goblins you say? Be afraid, be very afraid… The scenario is designed to be an extremely challenging adventure that might undermine a player’s bravado in dealing with low-level monsters such as goblins. Unusual traps, tricks and special weapons are used by the inhabitants of the dungeon to cause the party as much trouble as possible. Published by Dunromin University Press.
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
Deep in the wooded wilderness, the village of Grimmsgate is an outpost town on a seldom-traveled trail, right at the edge of nowhere. The village’s half-ruined temple of Law, dilapidated inn, drunken blacksmith, exiled trader and a few fur-trappers are enough to keep the bloody-minded denizens of the dark forest at bay, but nobody really expects the village to still be there in another ten years. The woods have become too dangerous for the trappers who once caught animals for fur, and merchants no longer travel the poorly-maintained road. What great evil and what fabulous treasures are to be found in these lands? A brave band of adventurers might make their fortunes here. Or perhaps they might never return… Grimmsgate is an introductory adventure for the Swords & Wizardry tabletop roleplaying game. The Swords & Wizardry rules are needed to play this adventure.
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?
Run, play or splice up 66 pages of mayhem and weirdness in this Slavic mythic-inspired (with an acid fantasy-twist) mini-sandbox for Labyrinth Lord or the well-aged fantasy rpg of your druthers. Contains: • A 25-site pointcrawl of the otherwordly Slumbering Ursine Dunes region. Beyond the big ticket adventure sites you will find along the way a Polevik-haunted rye field, a Zardoz head-living hermit, bearling pilgrimage site, antediluvian beaver engineers and other assorted madness. • Two separate “dungeons”, the bio-mechanical, lost-in-time Golden Barge and the faction-contested Glittering Tower, with enough detail and portability to be slotted into an existing campaign. • The Chaos Index, a dynamic events system for modeling the mythic weirdness of the Dunes. Actions of the players in the sandbox will escalate or de-escalate the levels of events. • Four competing factions operating inside the Dunes, plus guidelines for their mutual interactions.