The wizard Abracadamus hid the Forever Stone in the darkest depths of a failing mine, coerced monsters into serving as guardians, and rigged the dungeon with traps galore. Then he died, as all good wizards do. Many heroes have fallen prey to the Forever Stone’s lure of immortality. To date, only one stalwart band has plunged into the Mines of Madness and lived to tell the tale. You think you’re better than them? You think you got what it takes to grab life by the stones and conquer the dungeon that won the 2012 Gygaxian Award* for Bonecrushing Awesomeness? We seriously doubt it, but go ahead . . . prove us wrong! Mines of Madness is a Very Special D&D® Next Adventure written for PAX East 2013 and designed for four 3rd-level characters.
Akeni was born a servant to a powerful drow family deep underground, but her personality was anything but servile. When she was caught in an affair with the house matron's mate, she killed the matron and her own paramour and fled, eventually stumbling into the lair of a powerful beholder mage named Ormathulak. Akeni knew immediately that the creature was just the ally she needed to wipe out her hated family. Pgs. 56-60
Beyond the mortal world, somewhere outside the bounds of the Astral Sea, the Far Realm yawns immeasurable. Beyond the reality of gods and mortals, this plane is a realm of contradictions, a mad place of fevered creation checked only by pointless extinction. The Outside is a sea of diseased possibilities, where the stuff of madness seethes in a soup of the incomprehensible and the unnamable—shuddering, squirming, and sentient. The Stormcrows, responding to the psychic cry from the stone, dispatched a force to retrieve it. The attackers descend on Wellspring, slaughtering and destroying in the search for their treasure. PCs can come to the town’s defense and repel the horde. A priestess of Ioun then turns to the heroes to find the item the monsters were seeking. From the recovering town, the heroes cross the wilderness to the Kaorti Temple. The trail ends at a ruined tower overlooking a deep ravine. Inside the tower, the heroes must overcome the terrible creatures in their search. In the end, they find the relic has been stolen.
The Curious Tale of Wisteria Vale is the script of a play written in Common. It is split up into three acts, telling the story of a heroic bard before he becomes corrupted by evil. A wizard named Ryllia Liadon donated the book to Candlekeep as an entrance gift. She didn't tell the Avowed that the book contains the secret to accessing Wisteria Vale, a magical demiplane created by the Harpers to imprison a bard named Arrant Quill until they could free him from the influence of an evil artifact. The book has been hidden in the Candlekeep archives for three years, but the Harpers have finally discovered a cure for Quill's corruption, and the time has come to visit Wisteria Vale once more.
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish explores an alternate expedition into the Barrier Peaks. The legendary inventor disappeared in the peaks eons ago… as it turns out, finding a crashed planar ship and studying its technology to fuel his own experiments—only now, Kwalish’s lost research is desperately needed! This adventure explores two locations within the Barrier Peaks, and includes new monsters, magic items, and spells, plus sci-fi trinkets, random encounters, and even rumors of the area submitted by the player community! Further featuring new art, maps (from Claudio Pozas), and even a cartoon (from Jason Thompson)—as well as the famed suit of powered armor, as edited by Jeremy Crawford on the Dragon+ livestream! Best of all, all monies that Wizards of the Coast receives from sales of this PDF are donated to Extra Life. Your purchase of this adventure goes to a truly great cause!
A sickness has come unto the simple mining community of Duvik’s Pass, poisoning their wells and blighting their crops. With the pestilence leaving the strongest men of the town’s guard a few short days away from death, the burden of descending into the mines and purging the wellspring of whatever evil has settled there falls to an intrepid band of adventurers. Can these noble heroes prevail within the depths of Duvik’s Pass, or will they too fall victim to the perils of The Burning Plague? The Burning Plague is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure designed for a party of four to six characters of 1st level. Dungeon Masters (DMs) should feel free to adjust the adventure as necessary to accommodate groups not falling within this range. However, given the fairly low power level of the inhabitants of the mines at Duvik’s Pass, it should be noted that parties consisting of 20 or more total levels are unlikely to find satisfactory challenge within The Burning Plague.
An elder warlock from the goblinoid swamp village of Urzin has been kidnapped by soldiers of the Dwendallion Empire. Now the machinations of an evil imperial inquisitor might unleash an evil that could threaten the garrison at Fort Venture and the goblinoids of Urzin alike.
In the city of Waterdeep rests a tavern called the Yawning Portal, named after the gaping pit in its common room. At the bottom of this crumbling shaft is a labyrinthine dungeon shunned by all but the most daring adventurers. Known as Undermountain, this dungeon is the domain of the mad wizard Halaster Blackcloak. Long has the Mad Mage dwelt in these forlorn depths, seeding his lair with monsters, traps, and mysteries—to what end is a constant source of speculation and concern. This adventure picks up where Waterdeep: Dragon Heist leaves off, taking characters of 5th level or higher all the way to 20th level should they explore the entirety of Halaster’s home. Twenty-three levels of Undermountain are detailed herein, along with the subterranean refuge of Skullport. Treasures and secrets abound, but tread with care!
This adventure introduces characters to the land of Barovia. It expands what we know about the lands around Castle Ravenloft and sheds new light on the dark past of the castle’s lord. Players will investigate mysterious happenings in a small haunted house in Barovia.
An expedition to the Amber Temple reveals another major minion of the enemy and uncovers a secret weapon that may help defeat them. Part Ten of Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts.
Chapter 2: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh In this version of the adventure, the characters find navigational charts and logs aboard the Sea Ghost that implicate its crew as slavers. Ned Shakeshaft is a Scarlet Brotherhood agent. He makes an attempt to foil the characters, but his true intent is to surrender and implicate Gellan Primewater as a key villain. The distraction afforded by the lizardfolk and the looming sahuagin threat gives the Scarlet Brotherhood the opportunity to bring more agents into town. posing as mercenaries brought in by Anders to protect the town. If Gellan can be removed from the council, Solmor might ask one of the characters to take his place.
The End of the World Is at Hand! A hideous death cult has seized control of an ancient artifact-monument known as Tovag Baragu. The power behind the cult is the Old One himself, Iuz the Evil, demonic master of an empire. He's on an all-or-nothing quest for supremacy over the world—and the heavens beyond. To stop him, heroes must face horrors never dreamed of, journeying to a shadowed city where Death rules and the living cower. Here, Iuz will achieve his mad dream by destroying the imprisoned master of that alien citadel: Vecna, the mightiest lich, an immortal demigod. Two items exist with the power to stop Iuz—the Eye and the Hand of Vecna—but using them carries fantastic risks. Not even the gods know what will be unleashed when these items are fully activated. Die Vecna Die! takes the heroes from the Greyhawk campaign to the demiplane of Ravenloft and then to the Planescape city of Sigil. However, none of the material from those settings is required for play. TSR 11662
Faced with an unusual alliance of giants raiding the countryside, the party must venture into the steading of hill giant chief Nosnra and uncover maps to the locations of the other giant strongholds. “Steading of the Hill Giant Chief ” can be run as a stand-alone adventure, or you can play it as the first part of a four-part series that continues with “Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane” (Dungeon 198), “Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl” (Dungeon 199), and “Hall of the Fire Giant King” (Dungeon 200). The adventure is part of the Against the Giants series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
Trouble darkens the shores of the Vezdali Peninsula when an earthquake hits, sending part of the village of Palma Flora down into the sea. Seizing their chance a tribe of Sahugain descend upon the village, lead by their leader Selachai, a Sahugain Warlock.
The Raven Queen’s servants often seek out mighty allies. One of these is the black dragon Quetzallus, who resides in a deep cavern on the Shadowfell guarding a stream of souls flowing into the Raven Queen’s realm. But a death knight named Raxikarthus, betrayed by the Raven Queen in life, now seeks to enslave this dragon for his own purposes. He madly believes that he can stand against the Raven Queen, and seeks allies of all stripes—even her own servants—to do so. The death knight has found a pathway into the Shadowfell thought closed by mortals. Beneath a decayed keep, the undead dragonborn has reopened this portal and led his forces into the Shadowfell itself. The PCs are called in to beard the death knight in his lair. They find it abandoned, but discover a strange passage in the lower reaches. Pgs. 162-167
The Cult of the Dragon leads the charge in an unholy crusade to bring Tiamat back to the Realms, and the situation grows more perilous for good people with each passing moment. The battle becomes increasingly political as opportunities to gather allies and gain advantage present themselves, all centered in Waterdeep. Continuation of Hoard of the Dragon Queen.
Part Three of the Umbral Aristocracy Trilogy. You’ve been set up. However, the man you were set against is more than willing to forgive and forget, if you are willing join forces to seek a terrible vengeance.
The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure for four 9th-level characters. The party can consist of any mix of classes, but it should include at least one character that is good in wilderness settings, such as a druid, ranger, or barbarian, and at least one cleric. This scenario should prove a reasonable challenge for characters from 8th to 10th level. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. The adventurers have located the secret lair of Aleretheral, an insane half-orc druid with mastery over vermin. He has been breeding and training monstrous vermin to defend his territory. With the adventurers invading his home, he will do anything he can to protect it.
E2, following up on Death's Reach, the PC's first travel to Sigil following the smuggled remains of the primordial Timesus. The pursuit then leads into the Abyss, through the White Kingdom to face Doresain, the Ghoul King, exarch of Orcus. The module certainly is epic, placing the PCs up against powerful monsters like greater demons, death knights, and a demilich. It may be frustrating that the PCs arrive too late to disrupt the plot (have to allow for the finale in the next adventure) but taking out Orcus' right hand ghoul may be satisfying. Includes a skill challenge for crossing a portion of the Abyss For environments, City refers to Sigil.
The village of Orașnou is buried in winter's snows and facing starvation. An unseen beast has ravaged the livestock culled to pay Lord Strahd's tax and the village is thrown into panic and chaos. Can you find the monster and save the village from starvation, or worse? Part eight of Misty Fortunes and Absent Hearts.