Do you want your players to feel like they are in a zombie movie, struggling against a deadly horde that tries to surround them, overpower them, and bear them down to the ground to be devoured? This is an adventure that can threaten even the stoutest of characters, and is not recommended for parties of levels 12 or below unless they are larger than normal. This module is designed to take 4-8 hours of play and cover a single day, depending on the party’s speed of play and how thoroughly they decide to explore. It includes suggestions and some plot hooks that can be used to tie this easily into a variety of long-running campaigns, or it can be run as an indepdent adventure. The players will come upon a sacked town, figure out what happened, track an item whose theft has ominious implications for the region, and explore a partly-flooded old temple to end the threat. It's primarily combat-focused, but there are a few areas where exploration and route choice makes a difference, as well as traps if the party goes for the optional temple treasury. The antagonists in this module are mostly ghasts and ghouls, but the module title and cover page are deliberately selected to not spoil this. These are greater ghouls and ghasts that can challenge higher-level characters, backed up by mobs of lesser ghouls that can surround, paralyze, and devour the weak and unlucky, led by a Warlord whose aura can drive even the stout-hearted into forgetting their plans in a moment of madness.
A member of your gang awakens in an alleyway with foggy memories of a deal made, a job taken, a partner slain, and a heist planned. They struggle to remember the details, but you all agree that breaking into an abandoned temple should be a simple matter – in and out. Yet the heist is on a collision course with something sinister. What begins as an easy job becomes anything but, as you confront cultists, vengeful spirits, and the servitors of a long-forgotten god. While seeking an easy score, you uncover a plan to strike a blow into the heart of Lankhmar, and no one is safe from the blasphemous plot. A choice needs to be made. Will you stand with the city, or risk letting it descend into chaos? Curse the gods of Lankhmar for their cruel joke that, in the shadowed alleyways of Lankhmar, there is no such thing as a “simple matter.” Officially licensed from the estate of Fritz Leiber.
Something is amiss in the remote mountain town of Zuria. The head priest has not filed a report in months, and traders following the winding road into the high-altitude valley do not find their way back home. The Church of Palnor, benefactor and watchers of the Tomb of Kings, are greatly concerned. Can the PC discover what has happened in this isolated mountain town before events turn disastrous?
A streaking comet heralds a wild storm. An ancient temple roars to life with strange and otherworldly chants. Doom is coming to Starspell Mountain. Navigate traps, meet a mad elf, and stop otherworldly threats as you explore the temple on Starspell Mountain. Doom on Starspell Mountain is a one-shot adventure for 3rd-4th level characters made for the world's greatest roleplaying game. The adventure features traps, simple puzzles, and secret passages.
While traveling through a jungle expanse, the party meet a trader named Smera with a strange tale. Turned away from a nearby outpost, the trader is now heading back to civilization. Curiosity leads the party to the outpost, which has been destroyed. A strange disease has taken the outpost’s inhabitants, who built the place in support of a scholarly excavation of a nearby temple ruin. Following the path carved through the jungle by the excavation team, the PCs find the temple and its secrets. In this moss-covered and dark adventure, the party explores an old temple, faces its verdant guardians, and finds the source of the strange disease.
Eons past the fabled sorcerer-kings of Parhok perished in a rain of eldritch fire. But legends hold that one tribe survived the apocalypse, fleeing with their slaves to a hidden city, where the greatest enchanters of all time could sleep away the centuries, and awaken in a future age as rulers of a ruined land. Now once more the forbidden spells of the Parhok threaten the good folk of the Known Realms. A kingdom lies ensorcelled, a royal family ensnared by the forgotten dweomers of a long-dead race. When the best attempts of seers and diviners have failed, it falls to the heroes to save the kingdom. Have the sorcerer-kings risen to reclaim their bejeweled thrones? Or has a more sinister power bent their ancient magics to its sinister will? Only the most courageous and cunning of heroes will emerge victorious from Dragora’s Dungeon.
SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE! The Tabernacle of Ka-Sik-Fal is a 2 in 1 adventure including a TRUE SOLO adventure. This double adventure is actually the same adventure in two formats, one DM & PC, and the other a true do it yourself adventure. This adventure is for a PC of 1-3 level . It follows the Filbar Campaign setting but can be placed in any campaign setting. This adventure takes a single PC into a deserted shrine to discover the whereabouts of missing villagers. At 35 pages this adventure will keep your PC busy. Did I mention a true 1 person solo adventure?
She lay down her sword and wept; her tears are the water. She lay down her body and slept; her bones are the fountain. Atop the mountain, at the war’s end, a place for gods to wonder.
The colony of Farshore has survived on its own for years, a secluded and struggling hamlet perched on the western shore of the tiny island of Temute. An island dwarfed by the savage landscape across the narrow channel to the north, a landscape of rugged mountains, tangled jungles, and trackless swamps. This is the Isle of Dread, and its resources and hidden treasures are matched only by its peril. Yet for all these dangers, what may bring doom to Farshore is not an invasion of inhuman monsters from the mainland, but an invasion of all-too-human monsters from across the sea. "Tides of Dread" is the fifth chapter of the Savage Tides Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon magazine. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon magazine's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #352 of Dragon magazine features rumors of Farshore, a helpful list of improvements the PCs can make to the colony, and other features to help get PCs oriented in their new home on the Isle of Dread. The destruction of a pirate ship signals the beginning of a Crimson Fleet invasion. The PCs must race against time to prepare for the onslaught before an old enemy can release another savage tide. Pgs. 28-59 Also see Pgs. 60-71 Backdrop: Farshore City of Hope.
The PCs are hired to escort a merchant boat to Rygar, a new settlement that has sprung up on the banks of a tributary of the Neverwinter River deep in the Neverwinter Woods. The mud of Rygar is much desired by potters for its physical attributes, but it is also desired for a mating ritual by a tribe of lizardfolk. What happens when the lizardfolk show up to roll in the mud? This product now contains Part I: Into the Mud, and Pat II: Out of the Mud. It includes new monsters, a new settlement with brief descriptions of many of the townspeople and buildings, maps, new feats, and new weapons.
The Legend of the Black Monastery Two centuries have passed since the terrible events associated with the hideous cult known as the Black Brotherhood. Only scholars and story-tellers remember now how the kingdom was nearly laid to waste and the Black Monastery rose to grandeur and fell into haunted ruins. The Brothers first appeared as an order of benevolent priests and humble monks in black robes who followed a creed of kindness to the poor and service to the kingdom. Their rules called for humility and self denial. Other religious orders had no quarrel with their theology or their behavior. Their ranks grew as many commoners and nobles were drawn to the order by its good reputation. The first headquarters for the order was a campsite, located in a forest near the edge of the realm. The Brothers said that their poverty and dedication to service allowed them no resources for more grand accommodations. Members of the Black Brotherhood built chapels in caves or constructed small temples on common land near villages. They said that these rustic shrines allowed them to be near the people they served. Services held by the Brothers at these locations attracted large numbers of common people, who supported the Black Brotherhood with alms. Within 50 years of their first appearance, the Black Brotherhood had a number of larger temples and abbeys around the kingdom. Wealthy patrons endowed them with lands and buildings in order to buy favor and further the work of the Brothers. The lands they gained were slowly expanded as the order’s influence grew. Many merchants willed part of their fortunes to the Black Brotherhood, allowing the order to expand their work even further. The Brothers became bankers, loaning money and becoming partners in trade throughout the kingdom. Within 200 years of their founding, the order was wealthy and influential, with chapters throughout the kingdom and spreading into nearby realms. With their order well-established, the Black Brotherhood received royal permission to build a grand monastery in the hill country north of the kingdom’s center. Their abbot, a cousin of the king, asked for the royal grant of a specific hilltop called the Hill of Mornay. This hill was already crowned by ancient ruins that the monks proposed to clear away. Because it was land not wanted for agriculture, the king was happy to grant the request. He even donated money to build the monastery and encouraged others to contribute. With funds from around the realm, the Brothers completed their new monastery within a decade. It was a grand, sprawling edifice built of black stone and called the Black Monastery. From the very beginning, there were some who said that the Black Brotherhood was not what it seemed. There were always hints of corruption and moral lapses among the Brothers, but no more than any other religious order. There were some who told stories of greed, gluttony and depravity among the monks, but these tales did not weaken the order’s reputation during their early years. All of that changed with the construction of the Black Monastery. Within two decades of the Black Monastery’s completion, locals began to speak of troubling events there. Sometimes, Brothers made strange demands. They began to cheat farmers of their crops. They loaned money at ruinous rates, taking the property of anyone who could not pay. They pressured or even threatened wealthy patrons, extorting money in larger and larger amounts. Everywhere, the Black Brotherhood grew stronger, prouder and more aggressive. And there was more… People began to disappear. The farmers who worked the monastery lands reported that some people who went out at night, or who went off by themselves, did not return. It started with individuals…people without influential families…but soon the terror and loss spread to even to noble households. Some said that the people who disappeared had been taken into the Black Monastery, and the place slowly gained an evil reputation. Tenant farmers began moving away from the region, seeking safety at the loss of their fields. Slowly, even the king began to sense that the night was full of new terrors. Across the kingdom, reports began to come in telling of hauntings and the depredations of monsters. Flocks of dead birds fell from clear skies, onto villages and city streets. Fish died by thousands in their streams. Citizens reported stillborn babies and monstrous births. Crops failed. Fields were full of stunted plants. Crimes of all types grew common as incidents of madness spread everywhere. Word spread that the center of these dark portents was the Black Monastery, where many said the brothers practiced necromancy and human sacrifice. It was feared that the Black Brotherhood no longer worshipped gods of light and had turned to the service of the Dark God. These terrors came to a head when the Black Brotherhood dared to threaten the king himself. Realizing his peril, the king moved to dispossess and disband the Black Brother hood. He ordered their shrines, abbeys and lands seized. He had Brothers arrested for real and imagined crimes. He also ordered investigations into the Black Monastery and the order’s highest ranking members. The Black Brotherhood did not go quietly. Conflict between the order and the crown broke into violence when the Brothers incited their followers to riot across the kingdom. There were disturbances everywhere, including several attempts to assassinate the king by blades and by dark sorcery. It became clear to everyone that the Black Brotherhood was far more than just another religious order. Once knives were drawn, the conflict grew into open war between the crown and the Brothers. The Black Brotherhood had exceeded their grasp. Their followers were crushed in the streets by mounted knights. Brothers were rounded up and arrested. Many of them were executed. Armed supporters of the Black Brotherhood, backed by arcane and divine magic, were defeated and slaughtered. The Brothers were driven back to their final hilltop fortress – the Black Monastery. They were besieged by the king’s army, trapped and waiting for the king’s forces to break in and end the war. The final assault on the Black Monastery ended in victory and disaster. The king’s army took the hilltop, driving the last of the black-robed monks into the monastery itself. The soldiers were met by more than just men. There were monsters and fiends defending the monastery. There was a terrible slaughter on both sides. In many places the dead rose up to fight again. The battle continued from afternoon into night, lit by flames and magical energy. The Black Monastery was never actually taken. The king’s forces drove the last of their foul enemies back inside the monastery gates. Battering rams and war machines were hauled up the hill to crush their way inside. But before the king’s men could take the final stronghold, the Black Brotherhood immolated themselves in magical fire. Green flames roared up from the monastery, engulfing many of the king’s men as well. As survivors watched, the Black Monastery burned away, stones, gates, towers and all. There was a lurid green flare that lit the countryside. There was a scream of torment from a thousand human voices. There was a roar of falling masonry and splitting wood. Smoke and dust obscured the hilltop. The Black Monastery collapsed in upon itself and disappeared. Only ashes drifted down where the great structure had stood. All that was left of the Black Monastery was its foundations and debris-choked dungeons cut into the stones beneath. The war was over. The Black Brotherhood was destroyed. But the Black Monastery was not gone forever. Over nearly two centuries since its destruction, the Black Monastery has returned from time to time to haunt the Hill of Mornay. Impossible as it seems, there have been at least five incidents in which witnesses have reported finding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread reports of madness, crime and social unrest in the kingdom. Sometimes, the monastery has appeared only for a night. The last two times, the monastery reappeared atop the hill for as long as three months…each appearance longer than the first. There are tales of adventurers daring to enter the Black Monastery. Some went to look for treasure. Others went to battle whatever evil still lived inside. There are stories of lucky and brave explorers who have survived the horrors, returning with riches from the fabled hordes of the Black Brotherhood. It is enough to drive men mad with greed – enough to lure more each time to dare to enter the Black Monastery.
The seaside town of Ashenport has a troubled past and a dark secret. If you spend a night in Ashenport, you just might not wake up the next morning. "The Last Breaths of Ashenport" is an adventure of survival and alien horrors. The adventure is self-contained and can be placed in any setting. Pgs. 70-105
For the past 5 years this elven village has been plagued by undead creatures of the nearby swampland. The undead are consisted of unlucky elf villagers or travelers who were foolish enough to walk through the swampland. It is unknown how the undead appeared in the swampland in the first place, but it is rumored that a demonic entity has found shelter in a cave inside the dark forest next to the swampland and it is being worshipped by necromancer cultists. This adventure is for parties no larger than 5 characters and no higher than level 5.
Sent on a desperate mission into an unknown land, you must seek out the one called "the Master" and his Temple of Death. There is little time to waste, as you must act before the Master's armies destroy your homelands. But to complete your task, you must battle fearsome guardians, travel through a hostile kingdom, and discover the secret of the master. Can you survive his defenses and win? This module contains referee's notes, background, maps and detailed keys. It is the second adventure in the two-part Desert Nomads series begun in X4, Master of the Desert Nomads, but it can stand on its own as a seperate adventure. Wheter you play Temple of Death by itself or as part of a series, the adventure will offer you hours of excitement and fun! TSR 9069
The Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path continues with “Sword of Valor,” by RPG Superstar Neil Spicer. The PCs, now invested with righteous mythic power, are poised to become the greatest heroes of this seemingly endless war against the demons of the Worldwound… provided they can succeed at their first mission. The citadel city of Drezen was once a symbol of the First Crusade’s triumph against the Worldwound, yet when a larger horde of demons attacked, they shattered Drezen’s defenses and captured both the citadel and the crusaders’ symbol of power. Can the PCs help lead an army north to reclaim Drezen and recover this potent relic, or are they marching their comrades and followers to a gruesome demise?
Do you want to run or play an adventure where characters start at level 13 instead of ending at level 13, and actually get to progress to 20 like the rules say they should? Do your players like to travel far and wide, exploring a huge unknown area? Do your players like to change their plans on a whim, and travel somewhere other than where they told you they planned to go last session? Do your players feel like fighting against an empire at odds of 20,000 to 1? Do your players want to commit occasional acts of sky piracy? Do you want an adventure that is designed to handle players using Scrying, Transport Via Plants, and Teleportation on a daily basis? If you answered yes to some of these questions, this adventure may be for you. Check out the detailed preview packet, which includes a campaign log showing how this adventure has actually played out. WARNING: FULL OF SPOILERS; VERY LONG. Against the Idol of the Sun is an epic hexcrawl campaign designed for high-level play. Adventuring parties should start at about level 13, and will likely end the campaign at level 20 with multiple Epic Boons. As a hexcrawl, there is no set adventure path that the party must follow. There is only one encounter that's even close to plot-mandatory aside from the climactic battle. Anything else can be skipped or handled in any order. The players are free to move about the map in any direction at any time, limited only by the risk of enemy action and encounters. The DM, meanwhile, is encouraged to have foes react to and actively hunt the PCs once they become a threat. Along the way, they may find and explore a number of dungeons, including a millenia-old laboratory in the grips of a time distortion, several mines that were abandoned for good reason yet may hold wealth within, and other challenges appropriate for high-level characters. This module is heavy on Exploration and Combat, but the Social aspect of D&D also is necessary as the player characters meet new peoples, work to convince them that they can make a difference, motivate them to action, and create overall plans for the NPCs and factions to follow off-screen to support the players in their main assaults. The key set piece encounters, which are optional but highly probable, involve attacking well-defended temples in the centers of enemy cities. Planning for these attacks will require paying attention to reconnaissance, timing, the use of allies, how to enter, and how to exit and break contact succesfully when dealing with enemies that fly faster than most player characters can walk. The adventure does not include artwork, and the maps are basic.
After a few adventures you decide to find safety in a city setting. Along the way to Morristown you discover a few abandoned villages causing to wonder what is going on. With further investigation you quickly discover that something sinister is afoot and begin to uncover an evil cult! Can your party rescue the citizens and put an end to the nefarious religion?
The Godless Depths For the first time in eons, ancient aberrations are emerging from the deep ocean. Driven by some otherworldly fervour, they encroach upon the local villages, searching with beady eyes for anyone linked to the Gods. Even now you hear rumours of kidnap, men and women dragged kicking and screaming into the depths.
When the PCs turn up in the village of Ditch Nettle, they are tasked with solving the mystery of various disappearances. Will they be able to uncover the culprit, a worshiper of the long-dead cult of Morloski, goddess of the Slithering Brood. Or will they get stymied by local politics?
Deep within the Kraken's Maw, a brutal maelstrom of ocean that devours ships, lies the mysterious Isle of Jade. Long forgotten in the memory of men, the island has served as a bastion for an ancient sect of female Corsairs, but their power is waning and the threat of the outside world is at their shores in the form of a necromancer from Roslof Keep. Now a party has set out from Taux seeking the necromancer. Their course will take them directly into a conflict of high magic, ancient warrior religions, marauding fern goblins, and primordial dinosaurs. Will you take up the challenges presented by the Isle of Jade? When a necromancer steals a maiden of ancient bloodline, the Wizards of the Order of Towers must find a way to get her back. Hiring a merchant lord of Taux to fund a rescue mission the hope is to return her before the dark Wizard can use her to find the legendary White Ship and the key to magic beyond this world. Now the mission is in jeopardy as the adventurers have become stranded on the mysterious Isle of Jade. Braving a dark corruption, nasty native Fern Goblins, and even ancient Amazons, the party will have to stop the corruption before it turns the islands inhabitants and giant reptiles mad. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.