Most adventurers like to think that when their number is finally up, their colleagues will bring them home, either to be raised or at least returned to their families for a proper burial. But how far will the PCs go in order to do right by a fallen adventurer? And will they draw the line at hauling his coffin out of the Underdark? Pgs. 20-40
The Kierhammer clan of dwarves pride themselves as excellent excavators, but the respective families are not without friction. While clearing the entrance to the tomb of an ancient king, tensions rose following the death of one of the Kierhammers, who seemingly fell accidentally. It is your job to ensure the clan stays united, and when disease strikes, to make sure resources are managed properly, so that the mission is complete and you all return alive. A wicked force, however has other plans...
The Premature Burial is the first in a series of four interconnected stories that recall the themes and atmosphere of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror. Baldur's Gate, year 1492 DR, a dark and terrifying sect works secretly in the slums with the aim of punishing all those who have long oppressed, marginalized and killed the city's poorest and weakest citizens. The patriars, unaware of anything, are the cult's main targets, and a magical plague is about to fall on them that can cause a veritable slaughter. The characters will find themselves caught up in these dangerous events and will be drawn into a spiral of horror, blood and madness that will strain their bodies and souls. The Prior who leads the mysterious cult has "a special plan" in mind for them and will do anything to achieve his goal. Players will be forced more than once to question their morals and make difficult choices in a scenario of complex social conflicts, personal revenge stories and tremendous machinations. What repercussions would the cult's plan have if it were carried out? And what would happen instead if it were averted and the patriars continued to run the city as they always have? Shadows as black as night once again loom over Baldur's Gate, and this time they may change its face forever. - Adventure: story lasting 4 to 8 hours for characters ranging in level from 4 to 6 - Setting: adventure set in the famous city of Baldur's Gate but easily adaptable to any setting - Narrative: detailed descriptions and an emphasis on story immersiveness - Roleplay: in-depth characterization of NPCs with biographies, descriptions of their personalities and their physical appearance - Bestiary: 3 new customizable opponents with the mechanics "Affixes," which can add an extra degree of complexity to confrontations, and " Weak spots," which grant a strategic advantage to characters who manage to discover them - Magic: obscure and unknown spells used by cultists to carry out their plans - Layout: designed to make it easier for DMs to browse information, featuring special attention to color coding and visual immediacy of text boxes - Maps: 3 maps available in high resolution, VTT and printer-friendly versions - PDF: available in high-quality, interactive, printer-friendly print versions - Playlist: a collection of songs selected by the authors to create the right atmosphere during game sessions
A handful of would-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, an era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom. "The Whispering Cairn" is the first installment of the Age of Worms Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures, several "Backdrop" articles to help Dungeon masters run the series, and a handful of poster maps of key locations. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Worm Food" articles, a series that provides additional materials to help players survive this campaign. Pgs. 14-47
Short free/pwyw adventure for Shadowdark RPG or similar roleplaying games. Months ago the snow elf princess Ysren was pressured by her mother to begin accepting suitors. To thwart them, she vowed her suitors that anyone who brought her a piece of the moon would have her hand in marriage. The sorcerer-prince Sandor of Excelsis took up the challenge & began building an ambitious spiraling tower atop the highest nearby peak. Once it was high enough, he would begin a ritual that would open a portal from the top of the tower to the moon. One cold day all communication with the tower seized & the “Spiral Prince” has not been heard from ever since. King Galian has sent men in search of his lost prince, but none have succeeded in besting the frigid mountains. He offers a hefty bounty for the return of his son. Will you brave the rime-covered cliffs of Mt. Excelsis to save the prince... or perhaps scour his tower for arcane knowledge & regal wealth?
The Pathfinders descend deeper into the ruins of Bonekeep, a centuries-old siege fortress. The deeper dungeons hold even deadlier threats, yet even they cannot compare to the terrible revelations of the tower's true purpose.
Intrepid explorer Reslin Kine garnered a modest reputation and fortune for himself throughout his years adventuring. When he learned he'd die of an incurable illness before his first child would be born, Reslin hired the best workers and wizards he could find to create a vault to protect his son's inheritance. Reslin kept a journal of his efforts, logging the information necessary for his heir to find the vault and claim its treasures. Whatever came of Reslin Kine, his family, or his treasure is now the stuff of stories. Through whatever circumstance, the party has managed to get their hands on a few tattered pages of Reslin’s journal. The cryptic entries noted there contain clues to finding his vault, and the treasure which awaits inside!
Deep within the heart of the slums, in the rat-ridden city of Punjar, the Beggar-King weaves his plots. Unearthing rites best left forgotten and offering up sacrifices to the loathsome Lords of Shade, the Beggar-King’s ambitions threaten to unleash a horde of shadow-horrors upon Punjar’s huddled masses. You and your fellow companions must bring the reign of the Beggar-King to an end. Your quest will take you from the rooftops of Punjar to its filthiest alleys, and beneath the streets of Punjar to the fetid heart of the city, where even the bravest of sellswords will tremble before the fell secrets of the Beggar-King of Punjar. An introductory adventure designed specifically for first level characters, Sellswords of Punjar is an urban Dungeon Crawl Classic unlike any other. It includes a full-color double-sided battle map to allow your characters to fully experience the perils of Punjar! This stand-alone adventure can also be used to launch a campaign in the epic fantasy world of Áereth.
The followers of the many gods of Kara-Tur have always fought, to prove the superiority of their martial discipline and the greater wisdom of their deities. The strict hierarchy of the gods is now threatened by the sudden prominence of the followers of the Dragon Claw, a new and deadly school of martial arts that threatens to destroy all other schools. The players, recruited by a mysterious old monk with a bizarre fighting style, must find out what's behind the emergence of the Dragon Claw and put a stop to it. Mad Money vs. The Dragon Claw will take players across the entire country of T'u Lung, from the mouth of the great river Fenghsintzu to its headquarters, where they must deal with the legendary Cult of the Black Leopard - all in the name of the Mad Monkey. Mad Monkey vs. The Dragon Claw is a scenario for the ORIENTAL ADVENTURES supplement to the AD&D game. It is set in KARA-TUR, the oriental world in the Forgotten Realms. Mad Monkey vs. The Dragon Claw is designed for five to eight characters of Levels 6-9. TSR 9242
Do you dare delve into the depths of an ancient demon's prison? Designed to be a fun 5E challenge-dungeon. Delve into a cave where an ancient evil was once sealed away... but be wary, as over the ages, the seals upon the Demon have begun to weaken... This is the one-shot featured in my larger adventure, Tower of the Chronomancer, but more polished and slightly expanded to allow it to stand on its own. (Originally it was the Tower's "6th floor.") I'm making this Pay What You Want, hoping people will enjoy this content -- and maybe seek the larger adventures I've already written. The Cave. Mostly hidden behind a nondescript hill in a crowded wood, forgotten by almost everyone not of the nearest town, and even they have forgotten why the cave was originally created. What it contains -- what it seals in. Marked only by a broken, rotten sign, now it's viewed as a prank spot. Sometimes it's a hideout for unsuspecting bandits. Generally, it's a place no one goes on purpose due to the lingering "wrongness" that any who enter seem to feel. Any that pass through the perfectly-rectangular entrance will find that it's much more than meets the eye. Especially if they are able to find their way down to the Trials! The Story. Long ago, a shapeshifting demon called "Umbraeus, the Defiler" sought dominion over the world. It clawed its way out of the Hells and took control of the region through a mixture of trickery (empowering people it could use) and destruction (raining fire, destroying crops and rivals, etc.). Umbraeus reigned for many years... until it was betrayed by a rival, which allowed a group of adventurers and mages to defeat and trap it in a magical green gemstone. The gem was then buried deep underground, protected by a set of Trials that allowed only those pure of heart and capable of handling its influence to visit it. But a long time has passed. The seals that held Umbraeus at bay have begun to weaken. And the demon has found a way to crack the gemstone. Its malevolent influence has begun to seep out into the world above. If nothing is done, it may manage to fully escape! Includes: A 5e one-shot adventure for 5th-6th level adventurers (4-6 hours long) Combat, roleplaying, puzzles, discovery, randomness, and loot! A chalenging demon encounter with variable difficulty levels 6 original enemy statblocks, including an evil shadow-boss 2 original magic items. Keywords You Can Expect: High fantasy, cave dungeon, combat, evil demon, shadow dragon, puzzles, discovery, randomness, gelatinous cubes, constructs, moral quandries, and lots of loot.
Somewhere ogre the rainbow.... You and your fellow humanoids are going to be diplomats! Can you say "disaster?" I knew you could. This module is made for humanoid monster PCs created with GAZ10 (The Orcs of Thar Gazetteer). That module is required to play through this adventure. The players start in the village of Flooshpragh, which acts as the horde center for the Rude Mongrel tribe of goblinoid races. Unknown to the players, the tribe has grown unmanagebly large, and the chief has marked the players as expendable individuals! Many subtle clues exist throughout the module to clue the players into this betrayal. The adventure proceeds through a town with roleplaying opportunities, a tower dungeon, and finishes by the players unknowingly pranking a human wizard. Pgs. 50-64
The last remains of a sage from an age long past rests high atop the snow-covered tips of the Fog Peaks in Southern Galt and the Society wants his bones in order to study them and learn from them. They've sent you into a wintry wilderness of primordial beastmen and snow creatures not seen below the snow line to do just that. With the Aspis Consortium also seeking the bones, the race is on to beat them to the top and, once the bones are recovered, to make it back down alive.
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?
Jarl Aelfric Whitehand of Jotunspine, one of the Moonshae Isles, is not happy. His ward, Cordin Wainthrower, has disappeared. Clues imply that Cordin has headed for a ruined keep deep in the Giantspine Mountains. The characters are tasked by the jarl to track down Cordin and bring him back to safety – the Giantspines are filled with many dangers including the legendary Winter King, a fey of great power. Will the characters force Cordin to return to the keep or help him in his quest to restore a family heirloom? If they help him, they must face the chilling depths of the crypt of Icegate Keep. Icegate Keep is an adventure for the first tier, levels 1 to 4. The adventure includes full scaling recommendations for each level, as well as four pre-generated PCs at each of the four levels. The adventure is designed to be tough for the pre-gen PCs, who have little magic to brave the icy mountains. It is estimated to take 4-6 hours to play. The adventure has several new monsters including Ice Wights, Ice Zombies, Frostsnakes, and the infamous Winter King. New magic items are also included such as the greatsword Frostreaver, the ancient Snowbane dagger, the Horn of the Howling Wolf, and the Throne of the Winter King. There is a player handout outlining the legend of the Winter King and three battlemaps showing separate levels of the small keep.
Legend tells of a long-dead empire of sphinxes, ruled over for millennia by a great queen named Ankharet. She fell into darkness and her empire was shattered, as her subjects rebelled and cast her down. Unable to kill her, it is said that they bound her with great magic and buried her in a tomb, to wait for the foretold heroes who would be able to slay her and end her evil forever. Their empire in ashes, the sphinxes scattered to roam the world in bitter freedom, save a single great androsphinx. On the edge of the mysterious Barren Hills, between the mountains and the Great Desert, there is a gigantic statue of a crowned gynosphinx, ancient beyond reckoning. At its feet, a great androsphinx known as Khubsheth the Prophet has dispensed counsel and prophecy to all who come to him for longer than mortal records can tell. The heroes have come to visit Khubsheth, whether for counsel, prophecy or out of curiosity, but as soon as he lays eyes on them, he attacks! Upon his defeat, he tells them that they are the heroes foretold by the legend of Ankharet. Ankharet ruled over a long-dead empire of sphinxes, but she fell into darkness. Her subjects rebelled and cast her down, but were unable to kill her. It is said that they bound her with great magic and buried her in a tomb, to wait for the foretold heroes who would be able to slay her and end her evil forever. Kubsheth the Prophet tells the heroes that they must enter the tomb of the long-dead sphinx queen, kill her, and destroy her cursed crown, an artifact of tremendously evil power. As his blood seeps into the sands, a doorway opens at the base of the statue, leading down into darkness…
"A murderous laboratory comes to life in this adventure for 5th level characters." The players are tasked with investigating the disappearance of a mage who has been creating an A.I.-like arcane Workshop. Through the adventure, the PCS will soon learn that the A.I. has taken over and is using magic beyond it's understanding, having never ventured out into the world. How will the PCs stop a naive yet dangerously magical A.I. determined to get out into the world?
Deep in the Marsh of Chelimber lie the ruins of a great wizard’s tower. SEER has received intelligence, which she imparts via her emissary Hsing, that deep beneath the marsh in the remains of an old tower is knowledge of older magics. This could be just what Parnast needs to resist the onslaught of Bad Fruul and his armies!
Reign of the Ice King is a 10th level Adventure for 4-6 players Icewind Dale; The mad mage Akar Kessell has long been defeated, along with his evil army. Most of the dwarves of clan Battlehammer have migrated east to their ancient home of Mithral Hall after the death of Shimmergloom and her dark-dwarf minions. The Ten Towns valley has prospered over the years but has also seen the leaving of many of its heroes. Now, a new menace has moved in beneath the shadow of Kelvin’s Cairn and threatens devastation to the townsfolk of Termalaine. The adventurers are visiting the frozen region of Ten Towns when they see smoke rising from the town of Termalaine. Upon entering the town they find unimaginable destruction and many casualties. A Frost Giant, named Hrimnar has moved into the old Verbeeg Lair at the foot of Kelvin’s Cairn. He has demanded tribute from the poor peoples of Termalaine and let them know what happens if they do not pay him adequately. The quest to save a town from a tyrannical, giant overlord may spell the doom of the adventures as they face off against Hrimnar’s minions and even worse, his pet dragon, Ormrfrost.
Inside this full-color, 124-page anthology you’ll find four best-selling Adventurer’s League quests for level 1-10 characters set in the hobgoblin fortress of Glip Dak. Also included are instructions on how to weave these adventures into an ongoing story arc as part of your campaign. Tier 1 (Level 1-4): Glip Dak (CCC_GLIP-01-01) The Kroth Magg hobgoblins run the trade city of Glip Dak in the Troll Hills of Thar. From there they have taken control of the trade routes along the northern Moonsea. A young noble has been captured for refusing to pay their tariffs and his house looks to hire adventurers to rescue him. Beneath Glip Dak (CCC_GLIP-01-02) A series of unusual heists has both the thieves’ guild and city guard scrambling to uncover the culprits before the burglaries destabilize the thriving trade within the city, threatening the budding kingdom the Kroth Magg have fought and died to forge. Citadel of Vlaakith (CCC_GLIP-01-03) The adventurers are tasked with rescuing a group of heroes who vanished in the pearlescent fortress that manifested on the border between the Kroth Magg kingdom and the Varkonin empire in the Steppes of Thar. Tier 2 (Level 5-10): Blue Scales (CCC_GLIP-02-01) A behir has been hired to destroy the herds of aurochs necessary to feed the hobgoblin city of Glip Dak. Patrols and scouts continue to go missing, forcing the hobgoblins to hire mercenaries to track this behir as they recall their troops to the capital to maintain order as food riots break out.
East of Beregost, nestled in the outskirts of the Wood of Sharp Teeth, Durlag’s Tower has intrigued and yet stymied adventurers for decades. Stuffed full of mechanical traps and arcane wards, and rumored to be inhabited by fiends, very few have managed to extract any REAL treasure from the former home of Durlag Trollkiller. However, a powerful item in the ancient fight against the giants is said to be housed there, and the cloud giant Baron Rajiram has committed significant resources toward recovering it. After a pleasant tea in her garden, Seer calls upon you to beat him there and put a stop to his efforts! Sequel to Durlag's Tower.