A small band of centaurs have seen their water source fouled by unknown magic. When word of their plight reaches the party, they embark on a day's travel to the centaur camp. Along the way, they encounter injured wildlife and panicked bugbears. Terrifying storms beset the region, raining down acid and oozes. Agreeing to investigate the small corrupted lake, the adventurers discover a long buried evil has awakened—bringing with it oozing undead. The party must navigate the wilds, face the ooze storms, and confront a reanimated warrior who betrayed her god.
A powerful evil plots to corrupt the fey audience attending a theatrical performance. Her priests pose as convincing performers who set the stage for their master’s arrival in the final act. While staying in the fey community and perhaps as partial reward for some previous accomplishment, the party is invited to the performance. In this dramatic and deadly adventure, the party witnesses a strange performance and the corruption of the fey audience before defeating a herald of darkness and her priests.
Rumors fly up and down the river. People have vanished. Bodies have appeared, horribly mutilated. Death stalks the streets of Zobeck, and the people are afraid. Will you stop the killer before he strikes again, and again … and again?
Bodies are turning up in a city (or large town). The organs of the victims appear to have been turned to solid crystal; in a gruesome twist, the hearts of the victims have been carefully removed. The mayor and the guard captain have hit an impasse in their investigation. Agreeing to assist in finding the murderer, the party find themselves under attack by infernal assassins as they follow the clues to a gemcutter's workshop. In this rich and devilish adventure, the party must find and face a murderer and a charming devil.
Citadel of the Void Dragons is a void dragon lair suitable for four characters of 14th level. It is a logical sequel to Sky Stairs of Beldestan, but it can be played independently. The void dragon Astraxis and his mate, Yrsinestra, have long lived in an orbital citadel where the sky meets the void. This location allows the dragons to communicate with malign creatures of the void and still enables them to feast on the whales, cattle, and other large animals of the firmament below. This ready food supply is urgently needed right now, because the mated pair has recently laid a clutch of eggs. As a result, Astraxis is almost never at the lair—he is constantly on the hunt, bringing food to Yrsinestra and often sleeping on the earth below the citadel.
This is an adventure for four 6th to 7th level PC's that may be completed in a single session. The Untamed are a street gang in a busy city. A recent change in leadership has transformed the members from pickpockets and second-story thieves into kidnappers for an inter-dimensional aberration named Xlrieh'oc. Their hideout is now a strange and wicked factory, capable of extracting the firm essence from a person; the process leaves the victim partly ethereal and their form no longer casts a shadow. Although most victims die during the procedure, those who survive are conscripted into the gang. The extracted essence is crated and shipped to the aberration's home plane through a breach between worlds in the hideout's backroom.
Lo! The corpse of poor, departed Scholar Zubayr, washed up on the shores of the River of Sand, lies in the charnel house…destined to become dinner for a cult of cannibals. Though distasteful in the extreme, this isn’t your concern—except that Princess Karima Gamila, the most beautiful gnoll in Per-Bastet, has begged you to rescue her friend’s body and help discover his fate. Still unmoved to action? Know then, adventurer, that the Scholar was hot on the trail of lost treasure! If you can claim his body from the cult and decipher the clues he left behind, long-buried riches and powerful magic might be yours. But nothing is simple in this city of dark wonders: others converge on the charnel house in pursuit of wealth, vengeance, or both. Can you out-fight and outwit vile cultists, undead catfolk, a cunning werecrocodile gnoll, and the deadly secrets that lie buried beneath the River of Sand? Set in the city of Per-Bastet in the Southlands Campaign Setting, it is meant for play either as the thrilling sequel to Cat and Mouse, or as a standalone treasure hunt! Also available in Pathfinder format.
The Claret Wellspring is an adventure for four 4th-5th level PCs. "The first spell cast has not yet finished its work." Strange lights in the desert lead the PCs to a long-forgotten oasis. Travelling towards the lights, the PCs are threatened by magic so old, it defies categorization. Arriving at the withered shore of a blood-colored pool, the PCs discover an ancient dial and three tooth-like columns rising from the ground. Turning the dial results in the water being magically siphoned into the column's hollow cavities. If the pool is emptied, a small door is revealed in the crimson-stained much. They must defeat a blood-infused water elemental before proceeding. Once inside, the PCs share a room with a dark ritual running since the origin of the world. The keeper of the place, an immortal fey inside a powerful suit of armor, offers little explanation as to the nature of the ritual, and he seeks to ensure they tell no one of the Claret Wellspring.
"All-Seeing Eye" is a oculo swarm and night scorpion lair for five 5th-level characters.
Fight the Monster in its Den … If You Dare! Book of Lairs brings you 24 great monster lairs for 5th edition! Each of these exciting and unusual battlegrounds comes with a complete short adventure, including a hook, area hazards, tactics, and treasures. Stage your 5th Edition fights in unforgettable locations like: Alchemist’s Guildhall Necromancer’s Cistern Clockwork Tower Den of the Rotten Kings Lost Halls of Everforge A Pirate Cove Crypt of the Warlock Citadel of the Void Dragon A Dark Grove Lost Fane of the Serpents Branches of Yggdrasil Tomb of the Scorpion Prince Sky Stairs of Beldestan Imperial Ghoul Outpost Umbral Vampire Lair And 10 more! Designed by some of the top names in the RPG industry, Book of Lairs is sure to add an aura of wonder and mystery to your game! Book of Lairs uses standard monsters as well as surprising new creatures from Tome of Beasts, and both monster books are required for maximum playability.
The party arrives at an abandoned outpost in a frozen landscape. The outpost appears to have suffered some strange attack. A halfmad scholar from a distant city hides in the outpost; he is drawn to the region by his visions of a breach in the ice nearby—a breach he believes leads to the realms beyond the stars. Heading east, the party finds that the breach is no simple chasm in the ice, and its scaled guardian does not appreciate its work being interrupted. In this frozen and otherworldly adventure the party must overcome rimy insects, a void dragon wyrmling, and the pull of the breach itself.
In the small hamlet of Riverbend, the miller’s wife is missing, and the locals suspect the husband himself was involved. But all is far from what it seems. Ellessandra, the missing woman, is actually an elf from the Summer Lands. She came to live in the human settlement when the miller made a dangerous pact with the River King, the lands’ powerful sidhe ruler. Now, the player characters must unravel the truth behind Ellessandra’s disappearance, piece together the involvement of a young fey lord, and dive into the fey courts of the Summer Lands to stop a raid that would surely spell Riverbend’s doom. All the while, Arthurian intrigue and mischief runs high among the fey lords and ladies in this mercurial, open‑format adventure from acclaimed adventure designer Wolfgang Baur!
"Monument of the Thunderer" is a desert half-dragon lair intended to challenge a party of four 7th-level characters. Near the city state of Makuria, on a small island in the middle of the Green Nuria River, an immense stone sculpture of a dragon watches over the mighty Red Cliffs and the waterfall that pours off them. The monument was built by ancient worshipers of the Mharoti conqueror known as Zulatil the Thunderer, but now serves as a base of operations for a band of sinister thugs who call themselves the Red Cliff Raiders.
"Temple of the Deep Ones" is the lair of a group of deep ones and their god, suitable for four or five 7th-level characters. This adventure can be finished in one session. Ship captains report that a mysterious island has surfaced in the middle of a heavily trafficked trade route. Worse, ships that venture too close to the island are assaulted by a terrible creature and its servants. The island is disrupting trade throughout this part of the world, and several ships have already been lost. Unbeknownst to those that know of the place, the island rises at the will of Shar-Ngolyeth, a long-lost deity also known as That Which Lurks Beneath the Waves. The island is populated by a cult of deep ones and the beasts they have subjugated in the name of their dark god. The creature responsible for sinking ships is an aspect of Shar-Ngolyeth, a kraken. It is not meant for combat encounters; it's largely a plot device in this encounter.
In the thriving city of Zobeck, a breakdown of the vital Puffing Bridge is throwing a wrench into the entire city. Workers can’t reach their jobs, merchants and goods can’t reach markets. In short, if this problem isn’t fixed quickly, there’ll be chaos in the Free City. Of course, this isn’t a simple mechanical breakdown but an act of sabotage, and the saboteurs are still at work when characters arrive to investigate.
A venom maw hydra lair suitable for four or five 10th-level characters. The Red Craw Marsh, so called because of the delicious and plentiful red crayfish that live in the area, is a boon to the nearby village. More than a few intrepid souls brave the swamp each season to collect the crayfish. They either sell the crayfish to local establishments or ship them to nearby cities, where they earn a good price as the crayfish is a delicacy among the wealthy. The villagers have established a tentative peace with a clan of trollkin that inhabit the swamp. The crayfish collectors pay a small fee to the trollkin, who allow them to ply their trade in the marsh without (much) interference. It is a tense but profitable relationship for all involved. A powerful creature has moved into the marsh, however, threatening the delicate balance. When a venom maw hydra decided to move to the area of the marsh between the human and trollkin villages, it brought along a number of creatures that worship and serve it. This hydra and its allies have killed some of the crayfish hunters and some of the trollkin. Each side, unfortunately, believes that the other has broken the truce, thus stirring up animosity and putting both groups on the verge of war.
"The Alchemists' Guildhall" is a rusalka lair suitable for four or five 6th-level characters. This adventure can be completed in one session.
A welcoming desert oasis offers respite from the searing wasteland, but this paradise has perils. Castle of Sand is suitable for three to five 4th level characters.
"The Pirates' Cove" is the lair of a blasphemous cult, suitable for four or five 5th level characters. This adventure can be finished in a single session.
"The Riverfront Rat Gang" is a ratfolk lair, also featuring wharflings and a doppelrat, designed for five 1st level characters. This adventure can be completed in one session. The old dockyards once served as the primary center of commerce in town. Years ago, political pressure from an influential merchant who wanted the docks to be loser to her business forced shipping concerns to move their docks upriver. The new facility accommodates larger ships, and the old docks fell into disuse. Talk of converting the property into a set of riverside shops died when a rat infestation proved to be an unsolvable problem. Thus, the old dockyards have been decaying for years. This situation suited a former thieves' guild member, a ratfolk rogue, named Matimer Creel. A botched robbery (for which Matimer blamed his accomplice) turned the guild against Matimer, who fled from certain death at the hands of the guild master. He hid out in the old dockyards, confident that not even guild members bothered to go there. From there he began to exact revenge against the guild by ruining its plans or stealing directly from it. He also befriended the rat population, thanks to a golden rat's tooth he acquired, and the vermin help with his schemes. A trio of rat-like wharflings and a doppelrat, washed up on the riverbank near the docks, have joined Matimer's retinue.