Expand your game with this collection of 56 NPCs of various Challenge Ratings, thirteen of which include maps and details of their lairs. Add these NPCs as a side-quest, a main villain, a one-shot, a bounty for easy money, or however else you wish. Written by some of the best-selling authors on the Dungeon Masters Guild and outstanding podcasters, each NPC includes an image, a backstory, motives, flaws, and a stat block. Some even include new magic items!
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!
She ran. Where to or for how long, she really couldn't say. The little flame of her oil lamp sputtered and went out a few times. She'd snap her fingers and make the wick flare to life, but she may as well have ran blind. The hallways were pitch black with soot and choked with smoke, every turn was a guess and every corridor a gamble. Unnatural screams echoed from every direction. Left, right, left again, was this the south or north end of the labyrinth? She had no idea. The next turn brought her face to face with a doorway completely consumed in blue fire. The room beyond was so bright she had to look through her fingers at it. A shadow covered her, a shape in the doorway: a hulking creature with a wolf-shaped muzzle and enormous pincers for hands, wreathed in the same blue flames. The screams were getting closer behind her, too. They had her cornered, again. The demon slammed its shoulders through the narrow opening, splintering the wood and stone. She dropped the lantern and let the wand in her sleeve fall into her waiting hand. With a word of power and a gesture, she appeared in the familiar bedroom: stuffy and reeking of wood smoke. She'd have to try again tomorrow, if she could remember. During an exploration on the sixth level of Undermountain, a strange invisible creature leads to a series of collapsed chambers that hide a forgotten secret and one of the most devastating forces known to the multiverse. Marambra Nyghtsteel, the forgotten apprentice of Halaster Blackcloak, has been locked away for an age deep within Undermountain. What point and purpose her forced seclusion has, only Blackcloak may know. When a spell consuming blue fire, known as The Spellplague is trapped within the chambers, a series of events have left Marambra, lost in her madness, struggling to survive.
Zhentish soldiers, Maerimydran drow, and Sharran cultists have forged a dark alliance to subjugate the peaceful land of Shadowdale. Elminster's tower lies in ruins, Lord Amcathra governs at the sufferance of the dale's conquerors, and the very Weave of magic in this embattled land seems to fray with each passing day. The Zhentish yoke lies heavy over Shadowdale—but the Dalesfolk are ready to fight for their freedom, if only they can find true heroes to lead the way!
After a drow girl goes missing, characters must delve into the depths of the Underdark to bring her back. As they journey through the dark, characters discover not all monsters are monstrous and webs are capable of restraining all manner of creatures; in fact, they can capture magic itself.
Deep beneath the Isle of Dread, in a place forgotten by the world of light, an ancient, unfathomable evil festers. Within the desiccated ruin known as Golsimorga, the debased kopru servants of Demogorgon work foul rites, steeping immature shadow pearls in pits of liquid insanity. None from the world above have yet fathomed what terrors lurk beneath the Isle of Dread, nor what mad scheme roils to profane life deep within the city's gangrenous corpse. "The Lightless Depths" is the sixth 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 #353 of Dragon features ways to improve the PCs' vessel, the Sea Wyvern, as they take their adventures back to the seas. When the PCs journey deep under the Isle of Dread to find the source of the shadow pearls, they discover horrors beyond imagining in a haunted underground city perched on sanity's razored edge. Pgs. 28-66
A band of evil fey, led by a corrupt bralani, has raided an eladrin city and kidnapped several respected elders. The fomorian king claims the rogues don’t act on his behalf, but the eladrin city threatens the fomorians all the same. To prevent war, the PCs travel through the Underdark of the Feywild—a wondrous place filled with the beautiful and the horrifying—in search of the evil fey and their captives. Pgs. 96-101
The waters of a sunless sea meet a pebble-strewn shore, beyond which opens a wide Underdark vista shimmering with pale cave-light. Titanic columns as big as castles march miles into the misted distance. The wide, steeply sloping base of the nearest colossal column is carved with streets, walls, and elaborate structures, many with gaping, empty windows. A few glimmer with faint illumination. Are you brave enough to explore the spire-city and face the terrors that lurk within? Part 2 of the Barrow of the Forgotten King series. Followed by Fortress of the Yuan-ti.
A mind flayer has called for a massive conference of monsters in the Underdark beneath Hillsfar. Trolls, umber hulks, demons, and more have answered the illithid's call. To infiltrate this gruesome menagerie, you must embrace the monster within yourself.
Written by the setting’s creator, incomparable RPG author Monte Cook, Ptolus: Queen of Lies is an action-packed fantasy adventure painstakingly re-designed for Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire. Involving numerous challenging scenarios for characters of 11th level, Queen of Lies is filled with dozens of dark elf personalities, cunningly showcasing their alien culture—a world of merciless betrayal and sinister lusts. Deep below the surface, in the sunless lands of the Netherdeep, creatures of darkness build weapons and amass armies, dreaming of invasion. An attack on a peaceful elven shrine in Emerald Hill sends the heroes on a quest to retrieve stolen artifacts and kidnapped friends. All signs point to the actions of the dark elves of Ul-Drakkan, far below the city of Ptolus. However, even within that ancient fortress, there exists a deeper darkness.... Underground enemies lurk beyond every twisting passage, and strange creatures abound. The foul culture of the dark elves is both decadent and cruel, and the heroes may discover that they’ve stumbled into a web of deceit and treachery spun by the self-styled queen of the dark elves. Can the player characters complete their mission without being discovered, or will they find out, perhaps too late, that their actions been orchestrated all along by the wicked Queen of Lies? Published by Fiery Dragon Productions
Hellmaw Island is a place of legend, a hidden fortress protecting the greatest treasures in the world. Rumour says it is guarded by wicked traps, bizarre and terrifying monsters, and maddening enchantments. Our heroes have been tasked with penetrating this mysterious stronghold, and they will find it to be stranger and more dangerous than anything they have encountered before. Assault on Hellmaw Island is a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure for characters of levels 5-10. It will take 4-8 hours to complete.
Tales of Lady Sepha Lekore are known throughout the lands. Now she’s gone missing and her father Lord Lekore is offering a reward to anyone that can find her. With promises of a tidy sum, the adventuring party can investigate the last place she was seen to try and locate her. What they find will take them into the Underdark lair of a drow noblewoman with her eloped love, the young Lady Lekore.
From the backcover: "Once a generation, they say, a strange comet appears in the sky overhead and the gates of Firestorm peak swing open, (twenty-seven years ago, your father led his band of adventurers into the mysterious mountain, never to return. Now the Dragon's Tear once more flickers in the sky, and the glass gates on the mountainside beckon. Will you pass through to discover the secrets that await beyond the portal none has ever dared and returned? The Gates of Firestorm Peak is the first adventure designed especially for use with the new rules presented in the three PLAYER'S OPTION books: Combat & Tactics, Skills & Powers, and Spells & Magic. While it can also be played using just the AD&D® game core rules (the Player's Handbook and the DUNGEON MASTER® Guide), this adventure offers a perfect opportunity to experience all the potential of the new optional rules. One of the highlights of this package is the first PLAYER'S OPTION player character record sheet. To meet the challenges of Firestorm Peak and escape with their lives, heroic adventurers must battle dark dwarves in their underground city, explore the abandoned caverns of the Elder Elves, and deal with weird alien entities from Beyond. Their goal is to stop the Master of the Twisted Caverns and his dark minions from completing his sinister plot before it's too late . . . if they can. Included in this product are a 96-page adventure book detailing the dungeon that lies beneath Firestorm Peak, 4 full-color poster maps detailing all the important locations in the complex, and a sheet of 56 counters for use with the tactical maps in major combats."
Save the village of Millvein! Prevent a war with the drow! In this 3-4 hour adventure for 4-5 characters of 2nd level, travel to a small chitine lair to prevent them from destroying the small village of Millvein and inciting a war between the surface and the drow. Includes: A 3-4 hour adventure for 2nd level characters Map of the village of Millvein 2 DM maps Stat blocks for all monsters the players might encounter. See where the adventure began in Into the Underdark - Part 1 A Family Affair The adventure continues in Into the Underdark - Part 3 They Call It A Mine
Undermountain: The Caverns of the Many-Legged is an adventure detailing a hidden mini-level for Dungeon of the Mad Mage for characters of levels 12-13. It uses some of the story and lore of that book, but it can be incorporated or dropped into any setting or homebrew campaign. In a hidden part of Undermountain, former slaves feed their fat, monstrous queen who is fixated on revenge. A broken drow house has finally found a place to call home – only to become abominations. And a massive beast slithers, hunting for anything to satiate its hunger and quell its madness. Welcome to the Caverns of the Many-Legged. Which side, if any, will adventurers choose as they explore this hidden mini-level for Dungeon of the Mad Mage? In this adventure, you will find: a mini-level that can be easily incorporated into Dungeon of the Mad Mage a vivid cast of unique monsters and NPCs, including chitine warriors, a choldrith queen, a spellcasting draegloth, a mad yuan-ti anathema, and others (stat blocks provided for all creatures not in the Monster Manual) locations that could be used or adapted elsewhere, such as a chitine colony and a drider-controlled drow fortress a combination of roleplay, exploration, and combat encounters
Recent earthquakes have unearthed a small section of a lost dwarven fortress. The dwarves are long gone, but rumors suggest they might have left treasure or weapons behind. After a journey into the Underdark, the characters find a barred iron door bearing the names of several ancient dwarven clans. Pgs. 90-95
This material was originally published as two separate adventures, D1: "Descent into the Depths of the Earth" and D2: "Shrine of the Kuo-Toa." Contained herein are referee notes, background information, maps, and exploration keys intended for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. The adventure can be used alone or as part of an extended adventure that begins with G1-3: "Against the Giants" and continues with D3: "The Vault of the Drow" and Q1: "Queen of the Demonweb Pits." TSR 9059
When the PCs stumble into the Feywild, they find themselves in the middle of Mithrendain— a glorious eladrin city of grace and beauty. But as the heroes find themselves the target of mysterious attacks, they begin to discover that something rotten lurks in the city’s heart. Sunlight bathes the soaring towers of the eladrin city of Mithrendain. Gentle breezes swirl through wooded parks and along well-kept streets, and in the ancient settlement whos golden hues have seen it named the Autumn City, thousands live in peace and prosperity. For centuries, the fomorian chasms deep beneath the city have stood silent below the great magical seals that closed them in the wanting days of the eladrin empire. Over long years, the folk of Mithrendain have forgotten the dark threats of old, becoming complacent in their tranquility. And so none suspect that corruption lurks at the heart of the city, spreading out from the shadows to taint all it touches. Pgs. 104-128
The time has come for the brave and the bold to put an end to the machinations of Maerimydra’s demonic occupiers and their fiendish fire giant ruler. This will be no mean feat; the city is a cesspit of corruption and madness. You will have help, however, as an unlikely group of allies have gathered to your side in the Underdark beneath Faerûn. Danger, glory, and redemption await those brave enough to seize it. With allies gained from denizens of the Underdark, the former drown enclave of Szith Morcane is on the precipice of being retaken. During the battle for Szith Morcane, secrets of the drow community are revealed. What will you do with this knowledge, and how will it affect the outcome of the conflict?
Meaningful decisions, unexpected twists and memorable characters are the foundations of this dark 4-hour adventure for 5th to 10th level characters. A chance encounter on an unassuming road leads to a dangerous and lucrative opportunity. But what seems simple on the surface turns out to be much more below. Thrust into a world where every enemy has an enemy and everyone has their own dark motive, the only chance to survive is to ally with the right foe. Sometimes “doing the right thing” comes only in shades of black. Six Summoned Swords is a stand-alone adventure that begins on the side of the road leading to Phlan and can be easily accessed by any adventurers traveling through the Moonsea region. In addition to a world full of intrigue and complex character choices, purchasing this adventure includes: An Official Adventurers League magic item certificate Printable portrait cards with roleplaying tips for important NPCs Gridded reference maps for combat encounters Condition icons to help track character status Special Certificate Holder ideal for event play NEW: Season 8 Item Unlock Handout - prints 9 to a page, one for every player! * Looking for an adventure to run at your special game day or convention? This adventure includes a “certificate holder” that features specially created art of the adventure’s magic item. When printed in colour and on card stock, it perfectly frames the official AL magic item certificate from this adventure and makes for an unforgettable souvenir. About the Swords Below the Moonsea Saga The saga consists of three adventures, with this adventure serving as a stand-alone prelude. The series continues with Six Striking Swords and Six Swords Unbound, the two of which should be played in tandem.