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.
Players must prove their worth in this series of trials. Face the minotaur in his own maze, resist the allure of a crafty nymph, put on a show for the crowd as you face down an incubus / succubus duo in the arena, crawl through the muck and sneak past the demons that lie in wait, and finally use all of your creativity to navigate a glass golem through a gauntlet of traps. Another exciting blend of combat and puzzle-solving.
While resting in the merchant City of Gurdikar, a merchant approaches the party to investigate the disappearance of his nephew, whom he believes was betrayed by a rival house. The party must go into the into the mountain valley to find the missing nephew, return him if alive and discover any evidence of suspected treachery. Pgs. 43-51
The humble hamlet of Brackinstone is home to a small community of halflings dedicated to the goddess Yondalla. When a raiding force of bullywugs threatens the isolated settlement, the player characters are asked to intervene on Brackinstone's behalf. However, it soon becomes apparent that something sinister is at work in the otherwise innocuous hamlet. What's included: 1 uncanny adventure divided into single-page sections for easy running 3 extra encounters that can be added in to add tension or increase the difficulty 2 fully-colored maps with unlabled versions for players (made with assets from 2-minute Tabletop) 9 custom NPCs with clickable links for quick access to statblocks 4 story hooks to continue the adventure afterwards (depending on the characters' actions) Content Warnings: Violence, death, abduction, psychological manipulation, body horror
An Adventure for 0-Level Characters Remember the good old days, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics don’t waste your time with long-winded speeches, weird campaign settings, or NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know are there somewhere. For the past few years, an ogre that lairs in a cave near the wilderness town of Dundraville has demanded tributes of ale and supplies. The villagers were happy to comply, lest the brute attack them or destroy their property. But recently, the ogre changed his demands. Now he wants gold, building supplies — and captives! When the ogre walked into town only to have his request denied, he flew into a rage. The brute dragged two townsfolk off to his cave, to be eaten for sure! The villagers have no heroes to protect them — so someone must rise to the challenge! Six determined townsfolk have taken justice into their own hands. Can these village commoners defeat the ogre in his own lair before their fellows are eaten?
Stories of misfortune are often exaggerated, especially when they have been retold many times. For that reason, most people aren't taking seriously the claim that a sea monster living along the coast is eating whole ships full of sailors and swallowing entire families. But there's no denying a few facts -- the town of Lochfell is losing its citizens to a sea monster (one that walks on water no less), someone is stealing that same town's dead, and ships are beginning to choose other ports for unloading their goods. Such a scenario could doom the residents of the small port town to either a monster's gullet or the poorhouse. No one seems to know whether the town's two ongoing problems are connected, but the sea monster never leaves behind a corpse to bury. Is it collecting bodies for some dark purpose? Or did some more powerful evil creature create the sea monster to do its dirty work? Someone in Lochfell knows the answer, and it's up to the PCs to find it out. Lochfell’s Secret is a short D&D adventure for four 15th level player characters (PCs). The story is set in and around the port town of Lochfell. You can place the action in any section of your campaign world where a coastal town on a bay might exist. If there is a small town that the PCs visited in a past adventure but haven’t returned to in quite a while, so much the better. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
A few weeks ago, a neogi flying ship met with misfortune in a furious thunderstorm as it was setting out on a long journey. Heavily damaged, it crashed on an isolated rocky beach. Several neogi and their slaves were killed or injured in the crash, but five of the small monsters survived, along with four umber hulks and a handful of other useful slaves. Under the leadership of the sorcerer Neex Hist, the neogi are working to repair their ship so they can continue their interrupted voyage. In the meantime, they have set up camp in a large sea save close by the site of the shipwreck. While the repairs continue, the neogi and their minions are scouring the area for anything of interest - there's no point in leaving potentially valuable merchandise in the vicinity of the crash site, after all. Pgs. 101-106 Suitable for lvls 6-8 in 5e, using 5e stats.
Chapter 2: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh In this version of the adventure, the characters find navigational charts and logs aboard the Sea Ghost that implicate its crew as slavers. Ned Shakeshaft is a Scarlet Brotherhood agent. He makes an attempt to foil the characters, but his true intent is to surrender and implicate Gellan Primewater as a key villain. The distraction afforded by the lizardfolk and the looming sahuagin threat gives the Scarlet Brotherhood the opportunity to bring more agents into town. posing as mercenaries brought in by Anders to protect the town. If Gellan can be removed from the council, Solmor might ask one of the characters to take his place.
The gnome village of Clefton is built on the sides of a deep gorge, their homes built safely into the gorge walls. But for the past two nights Clefton has suffered the attacks of sightless creatures that crawl down the walls and steal away the gnomes’ loved ones. It’s up to the PCs to follow the creatures’ trail back to The Draigesgyrn Caves and put an end to their threat. As the PCs explore the unusual cave complex, they may discover the caves are the empty husk of a colossal dragon, buried many years ago beneath a landslide. In the depths of these caves they encounter the dread spirit of the dragon rider and an entrance to the Underdark. Will they seal the entrance or will they begin a new adventure deep underground? The Draigesgyrn Caves is a D&D 5th Edition adventure suitable for four to five PCs of 5th level and estimated to take 4-6 hours. The adventure could be set in any mountainous area. In the Forgotten Realms, it might be set in the Fairheight Range on the Moonshae Isles. The end of the adventure introduces an option to begin an Underdark adventure or campaign. Includes: A map of the dragon husk caves by EB Moreno Two new monsters for 5th edition – the ghoulish ooze and a grimlock shaman Four new magic items
"The Hive" is a spawn of Arbeyach lair, also featuring giant termites and termite swarms, for five 6th-level characters. This adventure can be finished in one session. Several mounds in the Forsaken Hills are the dens of voracious termites that have added flesh to their diet to supplement dwindling wood supplies. At night, swarms of termites hunt and devour prey. They swarm over victims in wooden carts and wagons, and bring the dismantled wood back to their mounds. Three spawn of Arbeyach, searching for a location to summon Ia'Affrat, Arbeyach's herald, discovered a mound filled with particularity nasty termites and used their vermin empathy to gain acceptance. They dug out a cavern beneath the mound, and now use the termites to protect themselves and gather food while they complete a difficult ritual involving dozens of sacrifices. The final sacrifice is prepared and the spawn are finishing their ritual when the party arrives.
At the end of the Hateful Wars, Lord Sandor led his army into the Barrier Peaks in pursuit of a host of goblins and orcs. He and his army vanished, and now a group of adventurers follows his footsteps to discover what doom fell upon him and his men. Pgs. 30-46
A roach thrall has infiltrated Sharn's highest circle of power, the council, and few have noticed. It's up to our adventurer's, with a little help from a perceptive councilor, to rid Sharn of the growing infestation.
You wake up in a pitch-dark cavern... The stench of bodies fills your nostrils. The crack of bone and the sound of teeth rending flesh are the only sound you hear. Something is feeding nearby...something you can't see. We Eat in the Dark is a deadly adventure for 3rd or 4th level characters. Navigate the caves of the Darkshard Abattoir, where light sources are muted and creatures hid invisibly in the dark. Fight for your life against troglodytes empowered by a mysterious artifact and other cavern hazards. Includes an appendix for limited starting gear for a more lethal challenge. A perfect murder-happy one-shot for your players to question your friendship.
Greed blinds the eyes of contentment Dwarf miners discovered a precious stone deposit. Unfortunately, their greed led them to dig tunnels too deep. Upon breaching the walls of an unholy temple, the miners unleashed a bizarre creature that decimated them all. 'They Dug Too Deep' is a system-agnostic one-page dungeon about exploring an abandoned and mysterious dwarven mine. As characters delve into the site, they'll uncover that not everything is as it seems – a sealed entrance from the inside, the corpses of dwarves scattered around, strange messages on the walls... Play to discover what really happened! 2023 Winners' Circle One-page Dungeon! 'They Dug Too Deep' was awarded as one of the top 10 one-page dungeons in the 2023 One Page Dungeon Contest! To celebrate, we offer you some extra stuff to enhance your play experience. There is more underground than just precious stones... What you'll find here: A complete 18-room one-page dungeon with easy preparation. A GM's Pamphlet containing tips on how to run the adventure and compiling the most relevant information. 4 character sheets using the Vagari RPG rules system. 5 custom tokens for use in your favorite VTT. Mini-hexcrawl map (NEW!)
A young black dragon and two hatchling dragons live in an excavated sandstone burrow in the swamp west of Knacker Knob. Connected to the dragon lair is a complex of sandstone tunnels and chambers inhabited by lizard men. Some sandstone tunnels and chambers are partially flooded, and others are filled with nasty things such as slimes, oozes and gelatinous cubes. The lizard men revere the dragons as magical spirit guardians. In small groups the lizard men are easily defeated, but if allowed to prepare a common defense, the lizard men tribe with its spellcasters may present serious threat to the player characters (PCs). Wild Dragon Den is the first dragon's lair to conquer. Part of TSR 1073 The Dragon's Den
Cargo ships are being dashed against the rocks west of Hulburg, lured off course by a mysterious light. Is this the work of ordinary thieves, or are more nefarious forces at work? Wreckers is a stand-alone adventure that premiered at Kumoricon in Portland, Oregon in October of 2017. Includes: Adventure .pdf in English and Spanish Magic Item Certificate .pdf All maps as high-res .jpg
Presenting The Mines of Chult! This Savage Encounters adventure supplement features nine mini adventures from three best-selling DMs Guild authors. Your PCs will challenge several new monsters, discover fascinating new magic items, and interact with some wickedly fun NPCs. Though designed with Tomb of Annihilation in mind, each of these adventures can be easily adapted to any campaign setting. Dig in to The Mines of Chult!
After a successful mission for Earl Phenwick you return to receive your accolades. Upon your arrival it is discovered that the earl's child is missing. His daughter was last seen around a mirror of unknown power and an advisor believes that she may have made her way into a different world via the magical portal. Time to put on your hero hats!
A very big problem from a very small source. Pay the toll or feed the troll' seems pretty obvious. Too bad that it isn't. A tricky gnome has used illusions to fleece anyone crossing a bridge, posing as a fearsome troll. To direct more traffic across his bridge, he has also set fire to the Great Bridge downstream. The players find the Great Bridge burned and follow this detour. At the bridge, the players will fight with the illusory troll. After a few rounds, it flees back to the gnome's lair under the bridge, and the players will need to deal with a combination of the gnome and his traps if they investigate. Pgs. 22,23 & 69
The white dragon Hinterbite has kept the barony of Icenvale ruler-less and poor for centuries. But now his power and that of his secret supporters is threatened by the popularity of an heir who hopes to make a change for the betterment of the people. Can the PCs take on the dragon and his minions and restore power to the barony's rightful ruling line? Download this new adventure by Owen K.C. Stephens and let your PCs face the dangers of the dragon lair! Fait Accompli is suitable for 12th-level characters. At its most basic level of use, Fate Accompli is a straightforward quest to clear a dungeon and slay some dragons in an arctic climate. However, it also includes political elements that you may either may play down or use to expand the scenario into a mini-campaign, as you wish. Fait Accompli is a short adventure for four 12th-level characters. It is set in the wilderness north of a minor border barony that has at best an arms-length relationship with any larger nation. Though the adventure requires all these elements to work, it can be set on the outer edge of any kingdom near an arctic region. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.