Known to the wider Forgotten Realms® as a sinister land of Red Wizards, slavers, and marching undead armies, Thay is the distant—or uncomfortably close—menace that “may become our doom if Szass Tam turns his attention in our direction.” And Thay is that, but it is also so much more. A truly magical land (thanks to a secret that even the goddess Mystra helps to keep) of rich culture, a rising middle class, ambitious nobles and Red Wizards who fear Szass Tam more than they hate him, but may soon be forced to defy him, and wealth beyond the imaginings of even wealthy and proud realms elsewhere. This tome is your guide to the Thay of right now, a valuable resource for Dungeon Masters and players alike. It sets forth the people and places of the Land of Red Wizards, what life is like, and seeds, hints, and secrets sufficient to spur adventures for years of enjoyment at your gaming tab.
The kuo-toa are a piscine race with a psychic affliction that makes them behave erratically and invent gods when feeling threatened. That same affliction gives them the power to bring those gods to life. Blibdoolpoolp is the most widely worshipped, and thus most powerful, of their gods. Blibdoolpoolp views the kuo-toa as her children despite having been born after them. Like all good mothers, she nurtures and protects. One of her chief concerns is understanding the kuo-toa’s psychic affliction, which causes them to undermine themselves whenever they strive for greatness. She discovers that a corrupted elder brain deep in the Underdark has a connection to the race; though the connection gives them psychic powers, it also turns them into powerless thralls, explaining their self destructive behaviors. Constrained by the same leash on her children, Blibdoolpoolp seeks adventurers to destroy the elder brain. Its death would free the kuo-toa, but potentially at great cost: if the kuo-toa lose their powers, will Blibdoolpoolp die?
The town of Warlorn is often thought of as a peaceful one. Not much happens there, and it is usually considered a place of peace were parties could convene to make truces or were the hurt could always come to find someone to care for them. Perceptions can often be incorrect however. The church of Ilmatter, God of Suffering, acts as an effective government in the town. Illmaters tenants are that to help all those who have suffered and to take on their suffering so that they may be healed. To them suffering is truly Holy, and to take suffering on from another is seen as the greatest way to prey to their god. Not everyone is as virtuous as a god, even his own followers, and humanity in taking on holy suffering is still left with desires; lusts that can be corrupted. When the Duchess of Manipulation who delights in corrupting church men spoke to the leader of this clergy of Ilmater, it was no difficult task for her to find a loophole in Illmaters word that she could exploit. If suffering was holy, then truly it should be those that do not yet understand Ilmater’s ways that should feel this suffering. Using a cultist of hers, she was able to create a child that could later be used as an ingredient for a portal right to her layer of hell. It’d be two birds in one stone; corrupt a devoted followers of a god she hated to later take their souls as her own, and create a portal that she could use to cross both herself and her armies to the material plane. When the players enter the scene, the child will have already been kidnapped, and the child’s mother will be hanging up fliers giving out a reward to anyone that can find her child. The players will find themselves needing to infiltrate the Church of Ilmater into its secret underground cult so that they can save the child and stop Glasya from finding her way to the Material Plane.
As the City of a Thousand Forges perseveres in the face of threats both internal and external, the effects of the planar portal continue to make everyone uneasy. When unusual individuals are drawn to the city because of the portal’s power, heroes are asked to keep the peace and ferret out anyone intending to bring harm to Melvaunt. A D&D Adventurers League adventure set in Melvaunt. The characters investigate six groups/individuals to work out their real purposes in Melvaunt.
Dr. Rudolph Van Richten and his network of investigators have hunted and put an end to numerous creatures of the night across the Domains of Dread. But some foes are more elusive than others, and will require the aid of heroes to put an end their reign of terror and close out these open cases. A simple rest turns into a waking nightmare as visions of death haunt the heroes’ dreams. A Dream of Eternal Sleep is the introductory adventure to the ghostly Night Terror, Kazander, and begins within adventurers’ own dreams. It provides the basis for an extended campaign that will take heroes through the cerebral and nightmarish domains of dread as they seek a way to confront this foe in the Nightmare Lands. Content Warning: Near-death Experiences, Recurring Nightmares, Sleep-walking, Possession.
In the beginning, a pair of sphinxes — one male and one female — guarded a desert temple in relative peace. They watched over a vault that held a magical ring that could change the world. The androsphinx — Bazymoros — succumbed to corruption; he denounced the trickster god who created him. Bazymoros forged a pact with the demon god, Baphomet, becoming violent and sought to claim the item in the name of his patron. In an effort to save the world, the gynosphinx Asmuzi defeated him. She locked Bazymoros away, never again to see the light of day. The androsphinx remained as an example of what not to become. It has been so long since this battle that much of the knowledge of Bazymoros has disappeared from the collective memory of the races that inhabit the world. All that remains is the knowledge of the dangerous gynosphinx made from the flesh of human and creature. . . and the treasure she keeps.
Baldur's Gate Break-Ins collects three heist and infiltration adventures for characters of levels 3-5, for use as a continuation of Burial in Baldur's Gate or as standalone modules. This collection fleshes out several locations around Baldur's Gate, providing adventures in every quarter of the city: Crash the world's worst dinner party in Eomane House! Contend with a criminal operation, a murderous raid, and a Feywild crossing in Jopalin's! Break up a blood-drenched cultist lair in Hamhocks Slaughterhouse! This book includes adventure hooks for running each location separately or as part of a campaign, a guide to running heist and infiltration adventures, three possible group patrons for the party, maps and rosters for each location, more than a dozen creature and NPC stat blocks, and a map pack with player and DM maps by Dyson Logos.
Night of the Scarecrow is a fairy-tale adventure for Tier 1 characters (Levels 1-3), loosely based on the Russian story Vasilisa the Beautiful. The party must seek for assistance from the ferocious hag Lucinda Lilywhite in order to discover how to defeat a monster of nightmares, and must complete three deadly tasks to gain her help. The village of Nalva is no stranger to creatures of horror. All kinds of bogles and shadows find their way there from time to time. But when a new and unfamiliar creature appears and starts snatching locals into an unknown dimension, their normal defenses are insufficient. The only solution they can think of is to brave the forest and beg the assistance of the local hag, Lucinda Lilywhite. A fearsome creature in her own right, Lucinda has a reputation for burning visitors to ash when they are insufficiently polite to her. But by all accounts she keeps to her bargains, and if found in the right mood, perhaps she will provide the advice and help they need.
An ettercap and its flock of spiders invade an unspoiled forest protected by sprites. The sprites, desperate for help, recruit a party of adventures to aid them.
A town in Falkovnia finds itself stuck in a time loop that repeats the final hour before it is overtaken by a legion of undead. Only the PCs and a mysterious crone are able to remember the events of each cycle. The heroes must find a way to prevent the destruction of the town and stop the cycle of death!
Buried in the desert sands of Mulhorand, near the city of Mishtan, lies an ancient stone statue of a sphinx queen. After a fierce sandstorm reveals a huge tablet etched with hieroglyphs between the statue’s paws, the PCs must translate the strange writing to find the secret entrance into the Temple of the Sphinx Queen. The conclusion offers three optional endings for DMs to choose from to suit their players, including a wicked trap, a twist that leads to further adventures, or a tough climactic combat suitable for a one-shot. Included are: Five new Egyptian-themed monsters: The Sphinx Queen, Black Lion Guardian, Zombie Scarabs, Snake of Set and Desert Spirit. A new weapon, the khopesh Four new magic items: Statue of Set, Guardian Khopesh of Set, Warded Puzzle Box and Minor Concoction of Healing Two hieroglyphic puzzle player handouts and a DMs translator sheet
A tribe of goblins are raiding travelers on the Long Road, and our heroes decide to help. After a dangerous overland journey, they enter a mysterious abandoned temple where they encounter terrifying monsters, deadly traps, dark magic and a shocking secret. Will they survive the Temple of the Nightbringers? This adventure contains 14 encounters and includes a mixture of combat, roleplaying, puzzles and traps.
Ever been on a long running campaign and in one of the sessions one or a few players couldn’t make it? This adventure was made to be used as sort of a filler episode to fix that. Made for a small party of 1st-4th lvl characters and to be played in a single session. Story summary - The Gold Knife Bandits, a gang formed by a former army squadron that deserted. They are remarkably loyal to each other and are known in the area for attacking army caravans and camps. However, after several months of unfortunate loots. They decided to house a cultist of Beshaba and do what he asks to take away the curse of misfortune the gang is obviously under. Unfortunately, that includes using some members of the party as a sacrifice. The party will find the bandits cavernous hideout, clear through it, face the cultist, the Bandit's old boss, or both! All in a day’s worth of adventuring.
Sometimes protecting the cargo is easy but getting the pay not so much. Work has been scarce, coin hard to come by, armor needs maintenance, weapons need to be sharpened and food is needed in the belly. Monsters on the road, on the other hand, are more and more common.
The dungeon is essentially a large puzzle built around the premise of time travel. Many PC interactions are a direct result of the party dealing with the actions of their past or future selves. This adventure is designed for a fifth level party, to be played in a single session. It features a large full color map, artwork, NPC roleplaying tips, and two new magic items. Julinda the gnome mage has always been a bit off. She is a chronomancer who has become obsessed with achieving the reliable and reproducible technology of time travel, in the interest of returning to select parts of history and influencing their outcome to her pleasing; perhaps to avert a war, or to head off the enslavement of her people, or prevent the death of a loved one. Those who know her were aware of her ambitions, and now worry that they are coming to fruition, as she hasn't been seen in several months. And so, they have implored the PCs to seek her out...
Pursued by wolves and worse, the party must fight a running battle to take refuge at the relative safety of the Bittermoon Inn, a decrepit old inn high in the mountains. But night is falling, can they uncover the secrets of the inn and use them to survive the night? This adventure can be played as a stand alone one-shot, or can be used as a drop-in side quest to almost any campaign. It is suitable for a party of about 5 characters at the First Tier (Levels 1-4). The players must fight a running battle with wolves to reach Bittermoon, then they must discover the secrets of the inn before escaping through a smuggler's tunnel. Finally they must face off against their unseen opponent at Skull Cavern. There are four encounter maps included with this title.
In a small town the adventurers were hired to retrieve some worg puppies out of a goblin village. The dog breeder will pay well for the puppies. But will the goblins give up their animals? Let’s find out together. I wish you a lot of fun with the cute little puppies
This is the second of the "High Forest Factbook" adventures series. The caravans have stopped arriving from the North. Lady Morgwais has asked you to investigate and help reopen the trade routes. What begins as a quick job turns into a race to save a queen. This module includes a detailed description of the Elven village of Reitheillaethor including it's NPCs. It can be run either as a continuation of the adventure started in "Menace of Merric", as an extended stand alone adventure or the three individual tombs included in it can be run as short one-off adventures.
TENTACLES. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TENTACLES? A colony of deep gnomes have had their main water source taken over by a group of kuo-toa, but are the fishy folk really the ones to blame for leaving the gem-loving svirfneblin thirsty?… This adventure was originally made for a West Marches campaign, but is designed to easily fit into any standard fantasy setting. There are many areas to insert plot hooks for your own world or campaign. A 4-hour adventure for 5th-7th level characters by ALAN TUCKER
One Night Strahd (ONS) delivers the spectacle and catastrophe of gothic horror as a consistent and fast-paced short campaign for D&D 5e. It condenses and remixes the 200+ hour campaign of Curse of Strahd into a replayable adventure weighing in at 525 pages with 150+ illustrations, 12 maps, 16 encounters, 27 new magic items, and 60+ quick-play charts. With careful attention to the design of exploration, combat, and role-playing opportunities, our goal has been to make something for every DM and every table. After three years of extensive testing, we're proud to share this explosive adventure with you.