Beyond the western mountains, the orcs generally kept to themselves. Over the years they built their civilization. They enriched themselves through magic and music, and followed a doctrine of peace and acceptance that was empowered by the dangerous mountain range on one side and the swirling seas on the other. Their quiet society was shattered when a djinni named Hasteth was summoned by their elder mages. Hasteth was a creature of pure evil and perverted the wishes that it granted. In time, the orcs were able to trap the djinni within an enchanted ceramic jar called the Annihilation Hold, but not before their entire way of life was torn asunder. Many centuries have gone by and the orcs are scattered to the wind, with few recalling their proud nation. The hidden complex containing the Annihilation Hold has been discovered. Tales of wealth and magic fill the rumors the adventurers overhear. Will your adventurers brave the hazards inside to claim the riches?
*THIS IS A D&D NEXT/5E PLAYTEST ADVENTURE* Imani, a Turmishan wizard and former adventurer, seeks the aid of heroes to infiltrate Dretchroyaster’s lair and recover the Diamond Staff of Chomylla—the key to powerful magic and wisdom locked away for thousands of years. In addition to his own sagely interest in the lore of lost Uvaeren, Imani recognizes the dangers of such powerful magic falling into evil hands. The dracolich has secured the staff in his lair’s cen- tral chamber, using ancient wards of protection that can be bypassed only by four artifact-idols once belong- ing to a cult of Bhaal. Each group of adventurers enters the dungeon through a different section of the dun- geon—a forgotten temple of Bhaal, a vast underground lake, a troglodyte village, or Dretchroyaster’s vaults. Dretchroyaster’s lair is no simple set of caverns and ancient ruins. It sits atop a source of great power and energy, which the dracolich and his Cult of the Dragon allies hope to use to unlock the secrets of the staff. Only by undertaking a unified assault against Dretchroyas- ter’s lair can the adventurers hope to recover the Diamond Staff and survive the dracolich’s fury. The adventurers must make their way through the lair and recover the Bhaalite idols that will help unlock the Diamond Staff, all the while dealing with the lair’s creatures and avoiding the dracolich as he pur- sues intruders. Entering the Chamber of the Diamond Staff, the heroes must overcome its magical wards and claim the staff before being slain by the dracolich and his servants.
Unwrap this player-driven winter mystery for four to five characters of 5th level. No more railroads. Every decision matters and changes how the story unfolds. Branching paths, multiple dungeon entrances, and a myriad of potential conclusions—this adventure provides endless fun with rewarding choices and a range of challenges for any character. This product includes: - 4 to 6 hours of play packed into 15 pages - High-resolution VTT maps of the temple - 6 new monsters, including Brain in a Jar and Workshop Devils - 7 stand-out NPCs with clear motivations players will love or love to hate - The perfect adventure for the holiday season, including a Midwinter festival with two classic games reimagined using D&D rules—snowball fight and charades - All magic items and stat blocks detailed in the appendices for easy reference Content Warning: Animal mutation, blood, enslaved devils, undead, torture,
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.
Small town merchants, frustrated after being continually conned with counterfeit coinage, want help capturing or defeating a magical thief. This 18 page adventure takes the party into the wilderness to storm a previously abandoned tower and capture a mischievous gang of bandits. The party must be quick and stop the gang before the criminals escape in the safety of the clubhouse they built in the branches of their awakened tree ally. This one shot adventure is balanced for four 3rd level characters. It should take between 3-5 hours to complete. It can also serve as a difficult challenge for 2nd level characters or a fun, but easier session for 4th level characters. It takes place in the Forbidden Realms with no set location. It can be easily run as a standalone adventure or fit into an existing campaign that takes place anywhere near forest, such Neverwinter Wood.
The heroes hurry to reclaim a treasured item that an evil hag has hidden away. The item they seek is well guarded by dangerous foes bent on destroying any that dare enter their domain. Estimated play time - 1 hour. This product contains two combat encounters designed for 4th level PCs, an extensive backstory, new monsters and new magic items. The encounters are easily adapted to almost any campaign setting. The text also includes optional changes that DMs may consider when running the adventure for their own campaigns. This side trek encounter is the second of a three-part "Fey's Bargain" encounter series.
"You enter some sort of corridor, but it is a far departure from the airship hallway you expected. The walls and ceiling are rusty chain-link fences and the floor is a corroded mesh of iron slats. Beyond the fence is a void of black, unmoving emptiness which carries the faint scent of ozone and rotten meat..." Inspired by horror franchises such as Silent Hill and Saw, Flight of Madness is a one-shot horror adventure in which the players must venture though an airship which has been warped by the plane of Xoriat--also known as the Realm of Madness! During the adventure the players will attempt to save the crew from unspeakable horrors, uncover the nature of the madness that has afflicted the ship, and face off against the one who appears to be responsible for all of this. But is everything as it seems? The adventure is for four level 5 players and is expected to take around 5 hours to complete. It is a great introduction to the darker side of Eberron for DMs and players alike. • An exciting mystery to unravel, with multiple interpretations and endings • An alternative to the madness mechanics provided in the Dungeon Masters Guide, which is integral to the final encounter of the adventure • Two terrifying new monsters: the winged torso and corrupted captain • Detailed battle maps as well as a map of the ship • Newspaper hand outs for the end of the adventure • Terrifying monster art WARNING: This is a horror adventure aimed at mature audiences and as such includes extreme violence and disturbing scenes. Before running this adventure it is recommended that you confirm that your players are comfortable with the adventure’s contents.
A hideous hag threatens to corrupt everything it can, including a young bronze dragon who protects this stretch of coastline. The heroes must stop Dread Shelan at all costs, lest the entire area come to ruin. Can the brave adventurers defeat Dread Shelan and her pet sahuagin? This package (adventure, maps, etc. within) forms a complete module for use with Dungeons & Dragons ® 5th Edition rules. It is especially designed for Dungeon Masters to initiate play with a minimum of preparation, and to invoke that OSR look and feel you remember from the original Saltmarsh back in the 80s. In addition to descriptive and situational material, this module also includes special informational sections giving background history and legends, listings of possible monsters and treasures and how to place them, a list of adventuring characters, tips on various aspects of play for the Dungeon Master, and helpful advice for starting players. Old School Look and Feel! Instructions given for scaling the encounters for levels 5 to 10.
A mysterious and ancient iron tower has been discovered in the fabled Lost Peaks - and our heroes are sent to investigate. What follows is a mind-blowing adventure of exotic creatures, alien technology and a shocking revelation that will change how they view the world forever. Expedition to the Lost Peaks is a 6-8 hour adventure for characters of 5th-7th level. And features some Sci-fi themes and items that may not fit into every game.
City of the Dead A 4th Level adventure for 4-6 players A strange thief wandered into Waterdeep and stole from the wrong person. Now, he has died of “natural causes” on his visit to the City of Splendors. Having no known friends or relatives, he was hastily buried, along with his possessions, at Waterdeep’s Cemetery (The City of the Dead) in The Road’s End Tomb. While the PCs are dining in the taproom at The Dripping Dagger Inn, they are approached by a stranger who claims that the unknown man had stolen a necklace from his employer, and he needs the adventures to reclaim it. Unfortunately, the thief’s fresh corpse has been pilfered by a dire evil with unknown motives. What starts off as a simple recovery mission, turns into a fight for survival in the City of the Dead. The Adventurers must solve the mystery and destroy the evil that lurks beneath the cemetery, if they are to succeed in their quest and escape with their lives!
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.
The PCs are sent to investigate a sculpture of the goddess Ezra with seemingly miracle-granting powers. The investigation takes the heroes on a pilgrimage to a forgotten chapel, where they encounter a terrible plague, a wererat police force, death, resurrection, mist horrors, and the miracles of the statue itself.
Taag'thrith, born a gith but transformed into an illithid by ceromorphosis, has been finally found purpose: the assimilation & understanding of all knowledge. Taag'thrith plans to unleash a 10th level spell that will grant him just that-at the cost of all sentient life on the Material Plane. Will the heroes be able to traverse the dangerous corpse of a dead God, find Taag'thrith's aqueous lair the Eternal Spirals, & pit their foes against one another in order to destroy the foul lich once and for all? Or will they fall prey to the threats trapped within the Eternal Spirals & sink beneath the surface forever? They Came from the Deep is the second installment in Pretty Little Liches: a trilogy of adventures centered around three unique liches and their lairs designed for high-level play. These three lairs and the surrounding regions can be run independently as individual adventures or tied together into a mini-campaign that centers on the destruction of the Green Hand, an organization of dangerous liches.
On the world’s first offshore rig Captain Seaslick and his crew are drilling for dragon essence - a rare and valuable substance often called Red Gold. They’re about to be filthy rich, but not everyone’s happy for them. Dragon cultists have infiltrated the rig and are trying to steal a stash of the precious essence for their rites. In their eagerness they’ve magically sped the drill up to a perilous rate. With the rig rattling and falling apart around them, will Seaslick and his enterprising ex-pirates team up with nature worshipping tribes folk to defeat their shared enemy? And will they escape with their liquid hoard, or will the sea have her revenge for their greed?
A quick-paced exploration of the magic tower, home to the great Solomon, the Master Conjurer, an expert in fiendology. Adventurers have to find Control Orbs to disable the tower's security system before it destroys them, and discover the secrets of the tower in the process. Their progress will be ushered by a seemingly helpful entity with nefarious intent - Zarloxar, the blue Abishai. The success of adventurers could also finally spell freedom to the fiend... or not if players, under stress, will realize the trickery in time. Part of "Detailed Encounter" series - each "Detailed Encounter" - features new monsters with unique stat blocks, new magic items, a custom battle map, and detailed NPCs. It also has story hooks and advice enough, to quickly turn it into a separate adventure!
We get it. Factions are an integral part of D&D, but it's not always clear how to use them in your campaigns. Luckily, Factions of Sigil has you covered for each of the twelve main factions found across Sigil and the Outlands! This supplement goes over the various rules and lore around the primary factions found in Sigil and the Outlands, making it easy for any new or veteran DMs to integrate the factions more into the core stories being told, and making them feel more useful for the players that choose to join. A cult of star spawn has popped up in Sigil, and the Hands of Havoc have asked the characters to destroy it.
This quest is for a party looking to acquire diamonds to use as components for higher-level resurrection spells. To gather what they need, the characters embark on a brief expedition to the Elemental Plane of Earth where diamonds are fairly abundant. However, the party only has an hour to gather as many diamonds as they can before the portal—and the entire cave area—collapses. Includes a quest-related NPC that a player can control if they're waiting for their character to be resurrected.
A short Dungeon in the Desert for 3rd Level Characters. There is a secret in the desert that must not be discovered, and a gang of tomb-robbers are going to find it. Chase them through the dungeon and stop them. Of course, they almost found the secret. It couldn't be too much work for you to find it now... Unshifted Sands is a short adventure built around a tomb in the desert, designed to be played in 4-5 hours. VTT Maps Included.
The night mist hangs low around von Helter Manor. A man and woman share a tender moment on their balcony after the best night of their lives—a flash of red as they fall. Blood begins pooling around them, staining the earth crimson. A mysterious figure grins in the darkness. The Red Lady has taken her next victim. Pgs. 75-81
Are your player's going fishing in the Underdark? Booked a ride with the Kua Toa Travel Agency? Taking a cruise on the Darklake? Well then Journey Through the Center of the Underdark 2 - The Darklake Strikes Back is just what the Leemooggoogon ordered! Like the first Journey, The Darklake Strikes Back contains several encounters designed with Out of the Abyss traveling days in mind, but easily inserted into any 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Underdark setting. Unlike the first Journey, The Darklake Strikes Back has a mid sized three level dynamically defended dungeon, complete with a dragon at the bottom! This complex is right at home on the Darklake but could also readily be inserted into your Tyranny of Dragons campaign as well. Written for a party of characters levels 4-6 with notes included for adjusting encounter difficulties for lower or higher level groups Journey Through the Center of the Underdark 2 - The Darklake Strikes Back should provide 6-10 hours of gameplay excitement!