From time out of mind, the standing stones known as the Circle of Cahervaniel have stood lonely vigil on a grassy hilltop. Sheepherders once moved their flocks over the hill and through the circle, sometimes resting in the cool shadows cast by the ancient stones. Everything changed when a stone finger fell, revealing a fissure in the earth. Now, dark shadows caress the circle after the sun sets. Creatures out of nightmare dance upon the hillside at night. Many swear that a unicorn of deepest ebony now hunts all upon two legs who draw near, while stunted creatures scurry in the shadows, abducting sheep from their sheds and drawing them down below ground for food. After the disappearance of a sheperd, fear grows stronger in neighboring villages. Who will brave the black hollow of the ancient Circle of Cahervaniel? Heroes of stern mettle must descend into the cavity and explore the ancient spaces existing there. Product History "The Shattered Circle" (1999), by Bruce R. Cordell, is a generic adventure for AD&D 2e. It was published in January 1999. Origins: Another Generic. After Wizards of the Coast began publishing D&D, their first year and a half of generic adventures were all classic revivals: returns to RPGA tournaments, to classic adventures, and to Dungeon scenarios. Even "A Paladin in Hell" (1998) was a return in its own way, to the demons and devils that TSR had become afraid of. Wizards was staking out new ground by reclaiming the past. "The Shattered Circle" (1999) was the first generic Wizards adventure that was simply a generic adventure, with no deeper origins and no hidden motives. Artifacts of Note. the foundingstone and the harp Euphonious are both one-off named magic items. However, it's sword Icerazor that's the most interesting. It's said to have grown from a shard of Frostrazor — a sword that would only appear ten months later in Return to White Plume Mountain (1999). There, it's listed as one of Keraptis' four implements of power, alongside Wave, Blackrazor, and Whelm — meaning that Icerazor (and this adventure) are just one step removed from White Plume Mountain itself. Monsters of Note: Chitine. It's somewhat curious, given the Greyhawk and Neverness connections, to note that the chitine debuted in MC11: "Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix" (1991). The spider-humanoids have generally been a Realms creature, featuring in bestiaries and histories for that setting. However, they also received a more generic "Ecology of the Chitine" in Dragon #223 (November 1995), which introduced the choldrith, or chitine priestess. This is their major adventure appearance. When asked about pronouncing their name Cordell says that he "can't be 100% sure of the original designer's pronunciation", but he prefers "KI-TEEN". About the Creators. By 1999, Cordell was one of D&D's most prolific writers. He'd previously authored many slightly related adventures, such as The Gates of Firestorm Peak(1996) and the sahuagin (1997) and illithid (1998) Monstrous Arcana adventure trilogies. This conversion guide allows DMs to run the original module with 5th Edition rules. To use this conversion guide you will need a copy of The Shattered Circle, originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in Digital format at the DMs Guild. This adventure is a generic adventure, not specifically based in any existing setting. Suggestions are given in the conversion guide to place the adventure in the Forgotten Realms.
"The Pirates' Cove" is the lair of a blasphemous cult, suitable for four or five 5th level characters. This adventure can be finished in a single session.
A gnomish settlement is plagued by inexplicable earthquakes, the wrath of an Earth Elemental. Can the heroes save the gnomes? Do the greedy gnomes deserve to be saved? "Valanche's Eye" was inspired by a desire to write an adventure which blurs the line of who the bad guy actually is, or indeed whether or not there's a really tangible villain. It takes the "patron hires adventurers to clear dungeon" trope and twists it – the patron turns out to be a pretty rotten bastard, and the monsters in the dungeon are just trying to live their lives. It starts when gnome gem-miners strike the mother lode of emeralds and sapphires, only to find themselves run off their claim. First they accidentally broke through to the Elemental Planes of Earth and Fire, and mephits burst out to annoy them. When they were just about done dealing with the mephits, they disturbed an earth elemental who just wants to be left alone, and emeralds are its favorite snack. The mine boss hires the adventurers to come kill all the elementals. But should they?
Everyone in Moonfern Ford knows to avoid the Tainted Grove, a place of darkness and evil amidst the sylvan beauty of Cormanthor. When a young hunter goes missing in the forest, things in the village take a dark turn. Part 3 of the Elvenflow Saga.
The party starts this one-shot falling from the sky aboard an airship. It lands atop a dense cluster of trees, unable to fly, but not destroyed. Now it is up to them to traverse the nearby wilds in search for the parts that fell loose so they can get back to the skies and continue their journey. Unfortunately, they will have to face ogres, apes, bears, blights, and more to retrieve these missing mechanisms.
Once a naval powerhouse, the Kingdom of Bane ruled the waters wherever they went. Four decades ago the neighboring countries noticed a stark difference taking over the once lush Bane. As the years progressed, rumors swirled about the downfall of the proud nation but the overall view was that a curse took over. The kingdom had been famous for the multitude of riches and magic it once possessed and it is widely believed that undiscovered treasures await any adventurer brave enough to test their mettle against the curse as well as the elements. This offering is 70 pages of magic, challenges, and a lot of urban discoveries. This scenario can be cut up and used as individual projects or as a massive campaign. The original campaign allowed the players to move from fifth level up to eighth!
More than a hundred years ago, Delbera Axebringer—a mighty warrior and dwarven leader—slew the necromancer Audalot Karexin, but spared his young apprentice Zohir. In the ensuing decades, the bitter survivor brooded and plotted her revenge. Now, descendants of the Axebringer clan are vanishing, dragged screaming into the darkness by the animated bodies of their fallen kin. The Axebringers and their hometown of Davarn need heroes to break this family curse. What mysteries lie sealed within Delbera Axebringer’s ancient abandoned fortress? And what challenges lurk along the Blighted Path winding through the Darklands beneath Golarion’s surface? Down the Blighted Path is a deluxe adventure for 5th-level characters, and includes 64 action-packed pages of exciting battles, supernatural mysteries, and monstrous foes, plus a gorgeous double-sided poster map featuring an overview of the dwarven trading post of Davarn and a miniatures-scale battlemap! The author of this adventure, Monica Marlowe, was the winner of the 2015 RPG Superstar contest, in which hundreds of unpublished authors competed or the chance to write a Pathfinder Module. In addition to her adventure, this book contains a host of new monsters and magic items designed by the contest’s runners-up. Players can expect to reach 7th level upon completion of this adventure—if they can survive its deadly haunts, Darklands horrors, and furious villains both living and undead!
Stormy seas rock your vessel, tossing her about like a toy in the jaws of a hound. Thunder rolls in the distance. Then, an arc of lightning splits the sky, and the sound like an exploding fireball all but bursts your eardrums. Your mainmast, struck by lightning, burns, splinters, and topples onto the deck like a felled oak. The last thing you hear is the cracking of wood as the deck explodes into splinters, and the ship is torn asunder. All goes black. You awaken in shackles, half-submerged in water, and surrounded by salmon-pink coral. You survived, but what fate awaits you now? The sound of soggy footsteps echo down the hallway. A creature approaches with an answer. This week’s encounter is Coral Colosseum, a combat encounter in which the characters must prove themselves as worthy gladiators to escape the clutches of a ruthless sahuagin baron. This encounter can serve as a follow-up to Encounter of the Week: Sharkfin Shipwreck, or as a stand-alone mini-adventure. It could also serve as an introduction to Ghosts of Saltmarsh, which releases on May 21st, 2019.
Dragonbowl is a setting and pulp action adventure in one. It plunges a party into a rich festival scenario that revolves around a deadly gladiatorial contest, where the dangers they face in the arena are almost secondary to those they encounter in the murky criminal underworld they find themselves in: a world that stinks of corruption, human trafficking, illegal dinosaur-trading, necromancy, blood sacrifice and unnatural arcane experiments. The action takes place in a vast cavern in Mount Waterdeep, known as the Underbelly, where not only Dragonbowl Arena, but also an entire festival grounds – consisting of temples, bars, casinos, funfairs and markets - has been constructed to host this grand sporting extravaganza. With Xanathar, Jarlaxle, Davil, Volo and the Black Viper all in attendance, and scores of 'entanglements' (faction missions) to keep players busy, Dragonbowl can be played as a sequel to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, or as a first step towards the Undermountain and the Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Equally, it can be played as a stand alone adventure, or easily transported into other settings. The adventure is written for a party of four 6th level adventurers, and easily customisable for three to five players, of any mid-tier level (the adventure contains maps and handouts adapted for both 4 and 5 player tables). The adventure is designed to last around ten to fifteen 4-hour sessions, but can very easily be shortened or lengthened according to the DM's desire. The adventure features all three pillars of play: combat (in and out of the arena), social interaction (a succession of parties and parades, where players can get entangled in NPC business) and exploration (30+ locations in the festival grounds alone).
A Halloween themed adventure for characters levels 3rd to 4th, meant for a single 3-6 hours session. The pumpkin-farmers of Goldgrain are in for terror, as in a rather ironic turn of events, their crops rise to harvest them instead. What's causing the pumpkins to become alive and angry? Is it the curse of a long dead witch? Or is it something even more sinister? Why are they dragging the corpses of their victims away, and to where? Who commands them? Soon enough, they'll find out answers to those questions, or perish under the wrath of the haunted crops.
The Raven Queen’s servants often seek out mighty allies. One of these is the black dragon Quetzallus, who resides in a deep cavern on the Shadowfell guarding a stream of souls flowing into the Raven Queen’s realm. But a death knight named Raxikarthus, betrayed by the Raven Queen in life, now seeks to enslave this dragon for his own purposes. He madly believes that he can stand against the Raven Queen, and seeks allies of all stripes—even her own servants—to do so. The death knight has found a pathway into the Shadowfell thought closed by mortals. Beneath a decayed keep, the undead dragonborn has reopened this portal and led his forces into the Shadowfell itself. The PCs are called in to beard the death knight in his lair. They find it abandoned, but discover a strange passage in the lower reaches. Pgs. 162-167
A routine recovery job, bread and butter work for any party of sell-respecting adventurers. What could go wrong? A few bugbears aren't going to cause any difficulty, are they?
After leaving a successful venture on Xodus Island you find yourselves being pursued by Captain Gabriel Angel and his pirates! Your escape sends both ships into a hurricane causing you to become lost at sea with waves threatening your ship. Choking on water the next morning you and your fellow adventurers find yourselves at Shipwreck Cove!
In order to stop a series of devastating giant raids, the party must venture into the stronghold of the frost giant jarl Grugnur to both recover the giants' plans and eliminate Grugnur, who is the tactical head behind the operations. The adventure is part of the "Against the Giants" series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
If the drought doesn't get you, the goblins will. The river has mysteriously run dry and the farmers' crops are in peril. Locals are convinced a nearby tribe of goblins are responsible, and have offered a reward to anyone brave enough to sort it out. While they were correct about the goblins causing the drought, they were wrong about the reason. The chief of the goblin tribe is an enthusiastic fisher and a particular fish, Salvel the Talking Trout has continually eluded him. This adventure has a humourous tone and emphasises role-playing and negotiating. Pgs. 8-21 & 49
Beneath the frozen waves, an ancient power stirs. In the icy north, ships vanish without a trace, drawn toward a massive drifting iceberg. Legends speak of a powerful artifact buried within—one that calls to the sea and those who sail upon it. But the glacier is no ordinary formation; its tunnels are filled with lurking predators, yeti clans, and an ancient Icebound Hydra whose severed heads regrow as living ice. Can your party brave the treacherous depths, uncover the iceberg’s secrets, and escape with their lives? Or will they too be claimed by the frozen tide? Inside This Adventure: ✅ A perilous arctic dungeon crawl with chilling environmental hazards. ✅ A tense nautical encounter with eerie Will-o'-Wisps and a Sea Hag ambush. ✅ A monstrous final battle against the Icebound Hydra, a regenerating beast of frost and fury. ✅ A cursed artifact—the Shard of Dominion, which grants power but demands a terrible price. ✅ Multiple adventure hooks for easy integration into your campaign. This adventure is part of Thirsty Tiger Tales, an upcoming collection of exciting one-shots for D&D 5e! Perfect for a one-shot or a side quest in any high-seas or arctic-themed campaign. Pay What You Want for the first month! Suggested price: $1.00 Will your party conquer the frozen depths, or will they become yet another legend swallowed by the ice?
He wanted a scabbard - but got the shaft. If the book is to believed, there's a magical sword - completely unguarded! - ripe for the taking. This short adventure starts with the players finding a diary describing the final resting place of Hrothgar and his powerful intelligent sword. In a quest for the sword, the players investigate a small cavern system and find the sword in a gelatinous cube. Pgs. 32-37
Bringing Diablo II to the tabletop. The legendary Diablo and Diablo II computer games come to life with the release of the tabletop Diablo II: To Hell & Back roleplaying adventure. All a player needs is the Dungeons & Dragons(r) Player's Handbook (0786915501-8/00) to accompany the Diablo II game. Every level and all 4 acts of the computer game are represented in the tabletop mega-adventure, which will also include 64 pages of monsters, information for levels 1-30, and over 60 maps!
A little cave-borne adventure about harvesting valuable cysts from a sleeping creature, trying not to be killed by the horribly mutated infectious things that already tried that, and helping a wizard who recently lost all his friends and just wants to get his spellbook back. For use with your fantasy RPG of choice. How would I use this thing? -As a terrible one-shot without consequences! -Drop "Find the wizard Felix Longworm cowering by stones and a mournful tree" into your mountainous random encounter table of choice, and pull this out when the fates decide. -If the cave is ignored something else will eventually be birthed out of it, so you get free campaign fodder if your players shake their heads and say "nope". Apart from the adventure it also contains a glorious suit of cursed armour, horrific explosives, four new spells, an adorable cut-out map for your players to put together as they explore, and some pretty neat light tracking mechanics, so there's that.
Some dozens of leagues to the north and west of the STEADING OF THE HILL GIANT CHIEF (Module G1 of this series), amidst the tallest mountain peaks, is the stronghold of Grugnur, Lord of Frost Giants. As frost giants have been amongst those who have been in the reaving bands, the party is to deal with them as the hill giants have been dealt with. Death and destruction are to be meted out to the frost giants in the same measure they gave to the peoples below. This module contains background information, referee's notes, two level maps, and exploration matrix keys. It provides a complete module for play of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and it can be used alone or as the second of a three-part expedition adventure which also employs DUNGEON MODULE G1 (STEADING OF THE HILL GIANT CHIEF) and DUNGEON MODULE G3 (HALL OF THE FIRE GIANT KING). TSR 9017