Silent crawlers with a venomous bite. Web spinners, creating sticky, beautiful homes that double as deadly traps. Nature’s most artistic killers. What fools would grow these tiny killing machines into the size of ponies or even larger? Gnomes! Opportunistic dark gnomes, looking for profit, who stumbled upon an inter-dimensional substance—experimental, yet undoubtedly powerful. Then something came creeping down the strand that connected the spiders to the inter-dimensional world, a shadow—the Shadow of the Spider Goddess! This adventure is designed for 5e for 4-6 characters of 6th level. The adventure is designed to link to the Lands of Lunacy setting from Fail Squad Games, but has been adapted to be run in any setting with no additional GM or player effort. The hold of Nevnooblin contains steam technology and creatures.
You are aromantic, and your best friend is aromantic. There’s only one thing to do: go and fight a dragon. Two Aromantics Spend an Entire Day Doing Everything Except Experiencing Romantic Attraction is an unapologetically no-romo single-player adventure for a level 4 character. It should run for approximately 3-5 hours. This adventure requires at least some knowledge as to what it means to be aromantic. There are many useful resources available online for those unfamiliar with this term.
A new, expanded, OSR-ised, prettified edition of Joseph R. Lewis’ Ragged Hollow Nightmare which was rated among The Best by Tenfootpole. Joseph Lewis hit a perfect balance between the classics of dungeonverse fantasy and the whimsy of the folk tales we love so much (as testified by our Folklore Bestiary. we released last year), adding a dash of dreamworld strangeness and a pinch of body horror to spice up his brew. We did our best to respect his recipe when adding our extra material (about 30 pages of it). We worked with Joe and Li-An (the perfect artist to give life to spooky Ragged Hollow and its strange surroundings) to make the best module we could: a solid introduction to old-school gaming for both players and gamemasters. And for the veterans among us, it also makes an excellent, full-fledged campaign starter. Nightmare over Ragged Hollow is a sandbox adventure centred around a quaint town at the edge of the kingdom. But however quiet life in Ragged Hollow is, the town lies between places where you shouldn’t be traveling alone. Places like Gloam Wood (“A witch or two lurk there!”), the Bleak Mountains (“I’m told there are bugbears…”) and their infamous Mount Mourn (“Home, they say, to cursed Dwarven ruins”), not to forget the Wailing Hills (“Bandits on every road!”). There’s even a haunted house by the river (“That mad inventor riddled it with traps!”). But only when an impenetrable dome of golden light materialises around the Temple of Halcyon (“Hey, my kids go to school there!”) do things really get out of hand. Some selfless heroes (or, failing that, a bunch of greedy ne’er-do-wells) should really get involved. One town with three adventure mini-sites Three small dungeons One 50-room dungeon Three hexes with 16 detailed locations Two groups of potential allies or rivals Sixteen pre-generated characters One deadly countdown! Written for the Old-School Essentials (OSE) rule system
Ruins of the Grendleroot is a book of ten easy-to-prep and easy-to-run adventures for the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Designed for characters of 1st to 5th level, these adventures take place in the caverns, chambers, tunnels, and ruins of Blackclaw Mountain, within which lurks a strange otherworldly sentience known as the Grendleroot. Ruins of the Grendleroot focuses on the sense of mystery and wonder that comes from exploring ancient ruins and lost chambers. The central hub of these adventures, Deepdelver's Enclave, is a frontier outpost overlooking the ruined city of Shadowreach, set deep within the mountain. In Deepdelver's Enclave, adventurers and explorers recount tales of their explorations, trade treasure and artifacts, and enjoy their shared love of uncovering the mysteries of the mountain.
People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.
Adventure Synopsys: The players are hired to investigate the death of the drowned sailor. Following the clues, the PCs discover more deaths, all linked to an event happening that very night, The Night Auction. The prized item of the night, the Demon Egg, has the power of birthing a powerful fiend into the mortal realm. As the PCs follow the trail of blood, they finally encounter the mysterious Houndmaster. As men die and bids raise the price of mortal life, who will remain to snatch the egg and claim the demon’s might? GM’s word: This adventure features social, investigative, puzzle and combat challenges, all wrapped in an exciting noir story. The villain designed for this adventure posses new unique abilities to test your players’ combat prowess. There are drawings, NPC portraits and puzzle handouts! Last but not least, The Night Auction features 5 brand new original and wicked items!
War is looming between Nanch and the Fey. Those on the border are caught between two dangerous dynasts. Pressed into duty for lord and country, the peasants and gong farmers of Nanch find themselves in a strange and unnerving forest full of denizens older than the practice of naming. In this new world, the rules of life and death are a game of whimsy practiced by fantastic forces, and bizarre ancient feuds re-ignite in the chaos of war. Those errant attendants of Nanch will be fortunate to survive the madness of either ruler! The adventure spans a series of strange and otherworldly encounters with the magical and surreal denizens of Greenwood—while under the incompetence, cowardice, and bullying of Pertrub (one of the King’s footmen). As the encounters continue, signs of the Earl’s fate are everywhere. The players must pick up clues and begin to grasp the realities behind them! The adventure features a number of visual puzzles with handouts to help the players solve them. This 20-page, stand-alone adventure includes a new class: the Wild Elf. The adventure is for low-level characters. It is not setting specific and can be placed near any ancient woodlands.
The ancient world of Harth withers beneath its dying sun…but it’s not dead yet. High in the night sky, a vampire’s tower is torn apart by a rampaging angel. People and monsters are trapped. Magical treasure lies scattered everywhere. It’s all yours for the taking, if you can find a way out before the angel finds you. This adventure is a one-shot dungeon-delve into a wizard’s tower. In space. With vampires. This is an alien-survival-horror-movie of an adventure (or at least, you can choose to play it that way). ADVENTURE TYPE: One-Shot / Low Level / Level 3 / Dungeon Delve / Tower / Vampires / Survival-Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for low-level characters (around level 3). It is focused mostly on exploration, with several social encounters and opportunities for deadly combat. It runs 3 to 5 hours. There are 17 unique magical items, 17 unique monsters, and 17 unique rooms. I swear I did not plan that, it just worked out this way.
Fight on the Beaches is the second of a collection of plug-and-play combat encounters for your 1st-Echelon Draw Steel campaign. These encounters are not strictly contextualized in any narrative. They are not adventures themselves, nor are they carved from any over-arching adventure. They're adventure-agnostic, so that you can just plug them into your own adventures and PLAY! Two encounters are enclosed. Each encounter consists of: - A map ready for use in VTT - A reference map for the Director - Some number of victory point conditions and mechanics of the encounter - Three monster tables (one for each level) for parties of 2-6 heroes. - Tips for monster tactics at each level In This Set: 002A: Wash Out the Coastal Ruins - Fight above the waves in ancient ruins guarded by lizardfolk, bugbears and angulotls, or wode elves! Features a very dangerous new dynamic terrain object. 002B: Summon Goxomoc - Hold back hordes of demons while summoning the Protector of Ix! Multiple zones of control, waves of enemies, a very complex fight designed to take 5 rounds.
The Isle of Ruk and the Dungeon of Klinis A sandbox adventure module and mini‑setting for classic fantasy play. Explore the bustling port town filled with factions and intrigue, wander the wilds where strange creatures stalk, and delve into the dungeons. New monsters, magic items, and two new character classes bring fresh flavour without adding rules. At the island’s heart stands the Dungeon of Klinis a three‑level ruin carved deep into the mountain, filled with traps, factions, and long‑buried treasures waiting to be uncovered. Whether your table prefers exploration, intrigue, or old‑school dungeon delving, Ruk offers a flexible foundation for emergent play. Inside you’ll find: A lively port town packed with NPCs, factions, rumours, and adventure hooks A hex‑crawl wilderness full of oddities, encounters, and strange phenomena The Dungeon of Klinis, a multi‑level adventure site designed for classic play New monsters and magic items that add flavour without adding rules Two new character classes to drop straight into your campaign A setting built to be hacked, expanded, or used as a launchpad for your own stories Design Inspirations This project draws on the spirit of Gary Gygax’s classic article “How to Set up Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign – and Be Stuck Refereeing It Seven Days per Week until the Wee Hours of the Morning!” and the practical creativity of Ray Otus’s workbook approach to worldbuilding. The map were drawn with inspiration from Niklas Wistedt (Paths Peculiar) how to draw basic dungeon maps. The Graves design aided by James Holloway's The Tome of Tombs. The earliest seeds of the Isle of Ruk emerged while designing a character class for the OSE Class Jam, eventually growing into a full mini‑setting and adventure module,
In the deep, it has awoken. Hidden in the ruins of an old dwarven kingdom awaits a powerful relic, and an army kobolds are on the march to retrieve it. Dare the heroes enter this ancient place, and will they find the relic before the army arrives. In a race against time the adventures may unleash the greatest evil, while trying to save the world from a grim fate. Tomb of the Dragon's Heart is a low-level OSR adventure suited for Labyrinth Lord and other oldschool retro clones. The adventure was originally written for the Danish Living Campaign The Hinterlands, and it is for the first time presented in English. The adventure introduces the players to a different tradition of adventures, and it one with a focus on exploration and encountering the unknown. The adventure contains new magical items and relics and new monsters to challenge your players. Tomb of the Dragon's Heart also functions as a prequel to The Flooded Temple and to Grave of the Heartless. Published by Greis Games.
A half-marilith, half-medusa druidess lich known as the Hate Blossom lairs in this dungeon, having been run out of mortal society and shunned by demonkind. She possesses the petrified-yet-still-living body of Melenkir, the first human arch-mage and the single creature to remember a ritual that may save the realm from an extraplanar threat. Only slaying Hate Blossom or convincing her to lift the curse will revive Melenkir. Published by Defy Danger and Save Verses Death
Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell is the long-awaited sequel to Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls. This book contains the final levels of the megadungeon, revealing its most terrifying secrets. It contains almost 600 dungeon rooms for the players to explore, more than 70 unique monsters to challenge them, and 13 new magical items to mystify them. Stonehell Dungeon is a classic-style megadungeon intended for use with the Labyrinth Lord™ role-playing game, but adaptable to early versions of the original fantasy role-playing game and its retro-clones. It gives the game master the necessary information to run the dungeon, while offering enormous opportunities to customize the site. Published by Three-Headed Monster Games.
An adventure for starting characters When vicious bandits waylay a caravan bound for an outpost on the edge of civilization, the player characters are the only survivors, trapped and lost in a hostile wilderness. If they would live to see another day, they must learn to work together and discover the people they might one day become. This adventure is designed for a group of starting characters and is especially suited to new players. Published by Schwalb Entertainment.
"Enter a garden of earthly delights. The sun has stopped setting over the king's favorite garden. It seemed like a harmless curiosity at first but the animals have turned violent and strange alien beings have appeared. The duke has placed a bounty for enterprising sell-swords to end the curse of endless daylight. Hideous Daylight is an adventure module for Old-School Essentials, Cairn, and compatible with other pen-and-paper RPGs with old-school sensibilities. Player characters will navigate a 20 point hex crawl to end the strange curse affecting the land. An adventure for low-level characters. 33 pages of non-linear, character driven adventure in the OSR tradition. Two keyed dungeons and a 20 point hex-crawl. A bucolic fantasy setting easily insertable into fantasy RPG campaigns. Dangerous new monsters, weird magic items, and an unpredictable random encounters table. Features two gazebos."
In this small 14 page adventure module, help the small village of Bull's Creek and a druidic grove! When a powerful nature spirit gets sick and lashes out, heroes are needed. Can your players stand up to the sickness that seeks to kill not only the organism that is the forest but, everyone else around too? Secret Grove of the Forest Goddess- a 5e SRD adventure for levels 1, 3 or 5. In James Grammaticus' Dungeon Short series, James explores fantasy worlds and settings in short bite-sized one shot adventures that be used on their own, can spring off into a larger campaign, or can be used as a side-adventure in a campaign. Featuring an entire dungeon, town, and forest exploration, Secret Grove of the Forest Goddess has everything you need to give your players a great introduction to the game.
Ever wanted to face the cold, dark, and dangerous unknown without the advantages of a fantasy hero? This is your chance! Fifth Edition Funnel puts a spin on character creation. In the Funnel, each participating player quickly generates several 0-level characters blessed with the abilities and low survivability of your average commoner. Those that survive will be promoted to 1st-level heroines and heroes. The Funnel bonds characters over common challenges they meet and (hopefully) overcome. The surviving 1st-level characters share a common origin as adventurers. Instead of merely rolling dice, there is a trial by fire where average people succeed against the odds to do something heroic (or hide under a table in a tavern).
The village of Gyles has been taken over by Ajax's forces, but after weeks of occupation, the War Dogs are becoming impatient with its newly appointed ruler. They weren’t made for watching over a bunch of villagers, they were made for action! The heroes arrive, seeing the devastation these monsters have caused and lives they’ve ruined, and realize they can offer them just what they need. Will they turn their Ground Commander against his master, or will they stand and fight them all, against impossible odds?
In this small 20 page adventure module, centered around an archaeological dig, revisit Bull Creek and find out the secret behind what really lies in the hero Vertrixx Mazilaxx's sarcophagus. To do so, you'll have to meet up with master archaeologist Geranimus to delve deep into the ground. On the surface, politics boil and tensions between species are high. Below, secrets are to be uncovered. Can your party find the truth? Find out in Old Bones. Old Bones- a 5e SRD adventure for levels 4, 6 and 8. In James Grammaticus' Dungeon Short series, James explores fantasy worlds and settings in short bite-sized one or two shot adventures that be used on their own, can spring off into a larger campaign, or can be used as a side-adventure in a campaign.
Dunerigger takes place in a desert, and the adventure begins in a garrison city at the desert's edge. Because of its position on several trade routes and its cool spring waters, the city is fairly prosperous and work is easy to find, though poorly paid. Faisal al'Farilreem is a successful merchant-adventurer, who fancies himself as a scholar of desert lore and history. He has heard reports of stonework and artefacts being uncovered in sandstorms, only to be buried again during the next. He is looking for an escort to take him and two 'companions' where he can investigate these mysteries at first hand. The journey will result in the discovery of an ancient dunerigger, a "sailing ship" of the desert.