Few are the wizards that seek to prolong their lives with dark rituals and foul magic to become the powerful undead beings called liches. But far fewer are those that seek to undo what necromancy what done and take back their lives after initiation to lichdom. Balipur is one of those few. Turned to a vassalich by the darklord Azalin against his will for impersonating him, Balipur, after Azalin's departure at the destruction of Il Aluk, seeks to imitate his former master's Grim Harvest project, inverted, in a smaller scale to forge a soul from the lives of other men.
One bad apple. The brownies would have been fine, except for the addition of one unexpected ingredient. This is a starting adventure for one druid. They set off on a wacky adventure with teh help of their driud master. Pgs. 22-31
A Beholder Love Story A dwarven mineshaft has become the new home of the heartbroken beholder Sindryl. Discover who could be wicked enough to separate Sindryl from his love Prix'am, put a stop to their plot, and restore Prix'am's missing heart. A 3-6 hour Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition adventure for Tier 2 characters. This adventure includes: 2 New Monsters (including 1 New Beholder!), 3 New Magic Items, New NPCs, a Minecart Skill Challenge, Romantic Random Encounters for the Underdark!
Part 5 of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path takes place in Ustalav's capital Caliphas. The heroes are in the city to follow the trail of evidence left by the neromantic cult The Whispering Way and strengthen their bonds with the mysterious Order of the Palantine Eye. Whilst in the city, they uncover a string of murders. When they discover that all the victims were vampires, they descend into the underground vampire city and have the possibility to form a tentative alliance with the vampire clans. If they help solve the murders, the vampire lord promises to help them on their quest. What role do the deadly necromancers have in the undead murders plaguing Caliphas? What secret grudge exists between the cult and the rulers of the night? And will the heroes be able to save the capital without sacrificing their very souls? This book includes: - “Ashes at Dawn,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters, by Neil Spicer - A gazetteer of fog-haunted Caliphas, the mysterious and deadly capital of Ustalav, by F. Wesley Schneider - A terrifying look into the blasphemous church of Urgathoa, goddess of gluttony, disease, and the undead, by Sean K Reynolds - Laurel Cylphra’s attempt to steal a soul stealer in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider - Six new monsters by Crystal Frasier, Patrick Renie, and Sean K Reynolds
What happens when you are invited to a dinner party at the Karnov Mansion during a full moon? Certainly nothing good. The wonderful dinner party, complete with excellent food, drink, and company, soon evolves into a 'cat & mouse' game that has the adventurers fighting for their lives. Will they survive? And will they uncover the secret of the Karnov Mansion? Although the adventure is set in a non-specific location and can be dropped into any campaign, it feels right at home as a Curse of Strahd or Ravenloft one-shot adventure.
Everyone starts out their career with big dreams ready to take on the world. As you head out towards your fame you discover an abandoned manor house. With hope your in your heart you wonder if anything of value is left in the ruined building. Cautiously you enter...
Part 3 of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path takes the heroes to the infamous Shudderwood in Ustalav. They travel to Ascanor lodge, the only safe place in the woods, to find more information on the necromantic cult The Whispering Way and meet a colorful group of npcs that reside at the lodge. The werewolf packs that live in the woods are on the brink of war as their pack leader has disappeared and as the heroes get involved, strange things start happening within the lodge. Soon all three story lines will intertwine and the heroes are left to piece the puzzle together and follow the trail left by The Whispering Way. It's worth noting that this book does an excellent job at fleshing out the npcs (lodge residents and werewolves) both through stat blocks and background information including history and motivations. This book includes: - “Broken Moon,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 7th-level characters, by Tim Hitchcock - The secrets of the Whispering Way, a notorious cult sworn to the powers of death and undeath, revealed in blasphemous detail, by Adam Daigle - Insights into the savage lives of werewolves, wererats, and other lycanthropes, by Gareth Hanrahan - Laurel Cylphra comes face to face with an ancient mystery in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider - Seven exciting and deadly new monsters, by Tim Hitchcock, Rob McCreary, and Patrick Renie
A message delivery? That's your first "adventure"? Oh well, a quick trip to the woods and drop off a missive to an Elven Bard and you can do real hero stuff! Upon your arrival problems present themselves because, well you are in Filbar afterall!
"A legend has circulated through the Barony of Loup-Montagne for hundreds of years concerning the order of inheritance for the title of baron. The legend holds that if the title is passed to someone who is not the eldest heir, the spirits of the forest will lash out against the people of the barony." Players will find themselves investigating a mystery in the small, superstitious town of Roulune. "As is normal in a gothic horror tale, the true situation in Roulune is different from what it seems. Figuring out the real story and the real connections between people will be key to the player characters’ success in this adventure." "This adventure is meant for characters of levels 4 to 6. The default setting is the Barony of Loup-Montagne, but any remote, heavily wooded principality with highly superstitious residents will do."
Clouds smother the sky, smoke fills your nostrils, and a shrill scream falls on deaf ears. The bonfire swells as the crowd surrounds. “Undead filth!” they shout, as she burns alive. What do you do? This Frankenstein inspired one-shot will have body horror, a murder mystery, undead constructs questioning the purpose of life and will make your characters question their morality. Designed for 3-6th level to be run in a single night of gameplay. All of ET’s adventures have been playtested at least three times, professionally edited and contains zero ai generated content. Click below for the video walkthrough. This adventure includes: 1 player handout, 5 maps including 2 battlemaps, 2 random tables, 6 secrets and clues, dramatis personae for the 5 main NPCs.
In this small 25 page Gothic Horror adventure module, find the secret of the small village of Vaukelberg, where disappearances have led to a mysteriously empty town. Something is buzzing in the wheat fields, and the adventurers may not be hardy enough to survive the horrible Vander Cainse's idea of Perfect Corruption. Perfect Corruption- a 5e SRD adventure for levels 3, 7 or 12. In James Grammaticus' Dungeon Short series, James explores fantasy worlds and settings in short bite-sized one shot adventures that be used on their own, can spring off into a larger campaign, or can be used as a side-adventure in a campaign. Featuring 6 original statblocks, find out what horrible creatures lay in hiding in this horrifying Dungeon Short.
About: This encounter was cooked up in the Write your First Encounter workshop by the Storytelling Collective. It CAN be slid in as a side quest in any urban or sub-urban context, or be adapted to add confusion to any rescue mission you are presently running. Synopsis: Through the doorway a young woman shackled to the wall matching the description of Helena can be seen. Though disheveled and looking to be in great discomfort, her beauty is remarkable. But on closer inspection, there are other people here — three identical Helenas! Noble woman Elize Cleron has hired the party to infiltrate the catacombs under the Schaefer Estate and free her twin sister Helena. Helena is being held captive by the Schaefer family, trade rivals rumored to have ties to the underworld. Elize has been unable to free her sister herself because of her identical appearance. Rather than pay an unrealistic ransom, Elize has provided the party with what they need to break her out. This encounter is intended for 3rd level characters.
Long ago, a local priest created a warded graveyard on a remote hillside. As the years passed, it gained a reputation as a spot whose defenses were powerful enough to keep undead in and tomb robbers out. Adventurers began to bring the remains of any creatures they suspected might become restless in death to the Tomb Steppe for interment, and in time they also sought aid against such creatures from the friendly priest. After his death, a brief spate of undead activity commenced, then died away once again. As the years passed, the tales of undead activity in the Tomb Steppe faded into legend, and colonists began to move into the lands nearby. The town of Night Falls was founded a short distance from the graveyard, and it grew quickly into a thriving trade center and farming community. Realizing that the Tomb Steppe was safe enough during the day, the citizens began burying their dead there rather than building new crypts on pristine farmland. Because this method of interment was cheap and easy, people from many surrounding communities brought their dead to the town as well. The business of burial brought new prosperity to Night Falls, and a guild called the Funerary House sprang up to control the trade. But it seems that the threat from the Tomb Steppe has not entirely been laid to rest. The Great Mausoleum -- the largest and finest tomb in the steppe, has been unsealed, and an apparition has been seen within. Who will go to the Tomb Steppe by night and reseal the tomb? Lest Darkness Rise is a short adventure for four 7th-level characters. In keeping with the season, it has a stronger horror theme than most D&D adventures. This scenario can be used as the climax of a series of adventures featuring its secondary characters, or it can simply be a site-based adventure that the PCs stumble across at the right moment. The scenario is set in a semi-civilized area in the far north, far from cities and churches, where winters are harsh and summers never get very hot. These inhospitable conditions have resulted in a low humanoid population. The scenario need not be set in such a wilderness; a rural farming community far from cities works just as well. The only real requirement is that the area have few settlements. The action takes place in the small town of Night Falls and a nearby necropolis of tombs, mausoleums, and graves known as the Tomb Steppe. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
A new, expanded, OSR-ised, prettified edition of Joseph R. Lewis’ Ragged Hollow Nightmare which was rated among The Best by Tenfootpole. Joseph Lewis hit a perfect balance between the classics of dungeonverse fantasy and the whimsy of the folk tales we love so much (as testified by our Folklore Bestiary. we released last year), adding a dash of dreamworld strangeness and a pinch of body horror to spice up his brew. We did our best to respect his recipe when adding our extra material (about 30 pages of it). We worked with Joe and Li-An (the perfect artist to give life to spooky Ragged Hollow and its strange surroundings) to make the best module we could: a solid introduction to old-school gaming for both players and gamemasters. And for the veterans among us, it also makes an excellent, full-fledged campaign starter. Nightmare over Ragged Hollow is a sandbox adventure centred around a quaint town at the edge of the kingdom. But however quiet life in Ragged Hollow is, the town lies between places where you shouldn’t be traveling alone. Places like Gloam Wood (“A witch or two lurk there!”), the Bleak Mountains (“I’m told there are bugbears…”) and their infamous Mount Mourn (“Home, they say, to cursed Dwarven ruins”), not to forget the Wailing Hills (“Bandits on every road!”). There’s even a haunted house by the river (“That mad inventor riddled it with traps!”). But only when an impenetrable dome of golden light materialises around the Temple of Halcyon (“Hey, my kids go to school there!”) do things really get out of hand. Some selfless heroes (or, failing that, a bunch of greedy ne’er-do-wells) should really get involved. One town with three adventure mini-sites Three small dungeons One 50-room dungeon Three hexes with 16 detailed locations Two groups of potential allies or rivals Sixteen pre-generated characters One deadly countdown! Written for the Old-School Essentials (OSE) rule system
Ambushed on the road by goblinoids and then follow them to their lair in an old, abandoned hunting lodge in a forest. This is a short adventure that can be played in a session. The Goblins’ Gambit is perfect for situations where the party suddenly decides to go completely off the rails and the gamemaster does not have anything prepared for the destination. It is designed to be simple and the gamemaster is empowered to read and run it quickly. A 3rd level party is ideal for this adventure, but it can be easily tuned up to 5th level or down to 1st level by adding or removing a few simple enemies. This adventure can be used in three different ways - The starting adventure - This is a great adventure to start a new campaign with. A good option to use for a brand new group of players A random encounter - This is perfect for use for a random encounter along the road A retrieval mission - This adventure can also be used as a low level mission from a patron What is included? The adventure pdf DM's map of two different locations Two high resolution (8192x6144) maps for an abandoned hunting lodge and a roadside encounter (grid and gridless), which can be printed out as a tabletop map to play on.
"An ancient curse has fallen over the righteous Kelemvor's Dead House! Among the infested corpses, a mystery awaits to be solved." Flowers in the Dead House is a 3-4 hour urban adventure for 1st-4th level characters. Adventure features: - A mystery-centered urban adventure. - A setting-neutral proposal, with guidance to play it in Baldur’s Gate or Waterdeep - Scaling guidelines for Average Party Level (APL) - A new item (Kelemvor’s gas mask) - A new creature (Primordial vengeful spirit) - Digital maps for each area with a printer friendly version
Displace Beast Maze is an adventure that has one long encounter that is a combination of a puzzle (maze) and combat encounter (Displacer beast). The Displacer beast tentacle's ability to attack through the maze walls, knowledge of the layout, and hit-and-run tactics make the labyrinth both a useful and possibly deadly lair for the creature. Pgs. 27-29
You are hired by a merchant to protect a rare item, a crystal crown, for one night against the attempts of the city's thieves guild. The arrogant guildmaster has informed the merchant that he will steal the crown and he cannot be stopped. Continues in Part 2 in Polyhedron #23 Pgs. 13-20
The widow insists there are demons in her house. She hears them at night in her root cellar, and now they call out to her. But she is old and nervous and her mind often plays tricks on her. * * * Two men, their heads fully sheathed in large, black hoods, dig quickly in the darkness of the cellar. The hole grows deeper as their shovels bite into the earth. "This will teach those meddlers their place," laughs the tall, hefty figure. "But it's too bad this was an accident," the shorter, slim figure says haltingly. "But don't you see the advantage?" snapped the tall man. "They will fear us now. They will fear for their lives." Grunting. they heave a sailcloth bundle into the hole. As it falls, a woman's hand dangles lifelessly from the folds. Who is the woman? Why will her death trigger riots and unrest in the city of Specularum? And the assassins: Are they Torenescu, Radu, or Vorloi? Or, curse of curses, the Veiled Society? This special game adventure provides a section of paper buildings and figures to cut out and use, giving you three dimensions to your game play! TSR 9086
A great evil force descended on the town of Phlan years ago. The townspeople were all either killed or driven away, and Phlan became (literally) a ghost town. Fifty years later, the survivors are ready to reclaim their town. But they need a band of strong and brave adventurers to lead the fight-they need you. Ruins of Adventure is a set of connected short adventures written by James Ward, David "Zeb" Cook, Steve Winter and Mike Breault-four names familiar to all AD&D game fans. It uses the same setting, locations and characters as the classic computer game Pool of Radiance by Strategic Simulations, Inc. In fact, many of the scenarios here in Ruins of Adventure will provide important clues to the successful completion of Pool of Radiance. TSR 9238