"Deeptown lies in the shadow of mountains, a town where anything is for sale if you can only meet the price. But in the wild surrounding valleys of the Deeps, it's the bandits who make the darkest deals - and their ambition comes at a cost far greater than the contents of any wayward caravan. You and your team have just been handed a new job: disrupt a meeting between a bandit lord and his mysterious new allies. At a remote mountain villa, you will strike hard and fast and leave terror in your wake. They give you the tools. You provide the talent. Survive, and you'll be well rewarded. Fail, and you'll pay the price. You've got three days to raise some hell." This was one of the first third party adventures under the OGL for 3rd edition published by Atlas Games under the Penumbra line. The attack on the mansion is not a dungeon crawl, but feels like a commando raid aided by some unique magic items.
The Dark Tower A Worlds Without Number Compatible Adventure The adventure is set up so the Player Characters [PCs] can encounter diverse types of situations and different adventure styles, allowing for role-playing within a rural situation, with wandering monsters, and a dungeon/Deep encounter. The module offers a chance for the GM to immerse themselves and their players with as much, or little, detail as they want to put in. Rolling countryside surrounds The Dark Tower for miles. Giving you, the GM, the opportunity to fit the adventure into almost any setting within your game. I have left the ending open, allowing the GM to slot in further encounters or adventure twists to keep the game moving but with enough happening to turn it into more than one session if so desired. The Plot There are several options for the plot: A local innkeeper would like you to investigate the haunted tower on the hill. He is willing to offer a good reward. A local village Elder could ask the PCs to seek out/investigate/destroy the walking dead that have been seen around the tower. Please investigate the tower to see if the rumors are true. A Local priest would like the PCs to remove the possible undead worrying the locals from the tower.
Everybody's a fool for a lost kid. He wanted power but settled for scraps - for now. The outcast wizard Lertol has adopted two leucrotta, and their team is ambushing passing travelers and robbing them with no-one the wiser. The players first fall into this trap when the leucrottas mimic a lost child and a search party in the middle of a night at camp. If the players leave to investigate the voices, the wizard loots the camp while they are gone. The players can then follow the wizard back to his lair and get their treasure back. Pgs. 48-49 & 28
A "Fast Play" introductory adventure to Dungeons & Dragons. Rather than requiring a d20, it is written for 3d6, and is meants specifically to teach new players how to play the game. The story is a simple dungeon crawl: players enter a small cave system to investigate an orc attack. After defeating a few orcs, they find an ogre's den, and must fight the ogre.
Some ports are more dangerous than the storm. It's alive, it's hungry, it's growing. And you're on the menu. Alone, out in the wilds with a savage winter storm bearing down on you, you need shelter to survive. You stumble through the trees and smell wood-smoke. Ahead you spot the small fortified trading outpost known as Jacob's well. You're not the only traveller to find themselves stranded here in the teeth of the storm. The only problem, someone has bought something with them, it's alive, it's growing, it's voracious and you are all on the menu. Think Aliens and The Thing and you're on the right track. Has potential to be scaled to suit a group of adventurers. Pgs. 8-23
An initial level adventure, this scenario has allowed for each PC to have an encounter as they get to the community of Lakedale (offered earlier) to prepare for their career. After successfully getting to the town the new PCs quickly discover a job opportunity pertaining to an overdue shipment from a Gnome Alchemist. Gelbo Green, alchemist, has an agreement with one of the merchants in town and is late on a delivery. Lettice Beauson runs the Purloined Purse and is looking for a group of adventurers to check on him. Time to start your careers!
Chip off the old block. The dwarves of Underduin and Thunderdelve have made some new friends … and enemies. A stronghold of dwarfs has been takin hostage and its up to the part to save them and return the stronghold to its former glory. XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain may act as a prequel. Pgs. 8-31
Things are not right at Du Sharid Manor. Months ago, a deranged parish priest and his most devout followers formed a heretical cult. These self-proclaimed “Seekers of the White Heart” chose the desolate Wild Hills to practice their secret rites; but the strange goings on at the Wild Hills did not escape the prying eyes of the more pious villagers who set out to confront the cultists. Once there, the villagers witnessed something terrifying and unexpected. Since the events of that night, the cultists have vanished, but the remaining serfs of Du Sharid now live in constant paranoia. Your party has been hired by the local bishop to to learn the truth about what happened at Du Sharid Manor. For use with Swords & Wizardry (or the like) and designed for the experienced Referee, Jewel of the Lunar Rift is a first-level campaign-starter and an introduction to the Messoria setting. Included as a bonus are campaign journals from the author's own sessions.
In the frozen depths of winter, murderous winds mercilessly batter the crumbling Priory of Cymer. Within, trapped by their duty and the heaped snowdrifts that render travel near impossible, the few remaining faithful huddle together and tend the sacred places of their forbears. With the weather worsening, nerves fray and tempers snap as the wind howls its mournful dirge for the forgotten dead of a fallen time. But the worst is yet to come. One of those trapped within holds a murderous grudge that only blood can expunge and as the storm reaches its savage height terrible revenge is wrought amid the frigid halls and faded glories of a bygone age. A 1st level adventure that is so much more than a trip to stop goblins killing cows. Great NPCs and a great location gives this the feel of The Name Of The Rose.
Things are darkest before they go totally black. He wears black, hires orcs, and looks depraved - but don't be fooled. He's far more dangerous than he seems. Thaddigren Dentiata recently arrived in the village of Sisak, and within 3 months had constructed a great tower on the outskirts. The villagers have become more wary of him, since he employs the help of orc henchment (albeit polite ones), and also is suspected of using dark magic. Since then, livestock has begun disappearing from the surrounding pastures, and two drunk men fell upon a terrible fate when they went to investigate the tower secretly. One was killed and the other remains missing. The villagers have confronted Dentiata, but he and his henchmen politely turned aside their questioning. The players arrive just after one of the town elders was taken by orcs from the village after trying in vain to rally the rest of the townspeople. The players will spend some time in the village gathering information and then attack the tower itself, ending in a final battle with the evil wizard. The module provides details on all buildings in the town as well as all NPCs and stores. Pgs. 6-24
Long ago, a small but mighty humanoid kingdom existed in what is now the local wilderness. Bugbear and ogre warriors fought brutal wars of expansion, earning great fame and amassing considerable fortunes from their predations. Those who died in battle were buried in large tomb complexes dug into hillsides and honored as patrons of the living. Among these tombs was the large tor known as Hightower. Though it was neither the largest nor the most famous of the kingdom's tombs, Hightower did represent a typical example of this kind of structure. As happens to all such nations, the cruel humanoid kingdom eventually fell to a more powerful foe that razed all its cities and outlying fortifications. Of the tombs, only Hightower escaped destruction -- largely because it was an unimportant monument in a remote location. A few tribes of humanoids that survived the devastation tried to use it as a fortress, but the humans with whom they clashed defeated them soundly and sealed the entrance with a huge, round stone to ensure that the tor could no longer be used as a base. Since then, Hightower has served as a landmark for travellers in the know, but it has otherwise been largely forgotten. But the electrical storms that have plagued the area in recent days have been quite severe, and a few weeks ago, a stray lightning bolt broke open the stone seal. Tonight, yet another terrible storm is sweeping through the wilderness, driving all creatures to take shelter where they can find it. Hightower looms on the horizon, and its door is no longer blocked. Will the PCs dare to enter its silent halls?
Nearly 100 years ago, Lord Eriador wrested the lands from the hands of evil and began a reign of unsurpassed courage, wisdom, and might that lasted over three centuries. One day this great man of valor was called onward to continue his battle for freedom and goodness on a higher plane of existence. Leaving the responsibilities of rulership to his faithful overseer, he donned his magical shield, helm, and sword and traveled to the Holy Maountain of Anduin to meet his destiny. Eriador left the overseer with this solemn promise: if there ever arose a time of great need, he would answer a summons from the Mountain of Anduin to come back to vanquish any evil that dared to oppress his people. It is now the reign of the third overseer. For years now, an evil mage has been plaguing the land by sending forth hordes of evil humanoid minions to oppress the people. The overseer has been forced to pay tribute to the mage to protect his people. Life has become nearly unbearable for his subjects. It has been over five years since the mage desecrated the holy mountain by placing foul creatures in its depths to guard against the possibility of the people seeking help from their nearly forgotten champion. A fortnight ago, your party was gathered in a secret council chamber to meet with the overseer himself. You felt a spark of hope for the people of this land as the overseer told the legendary tale of Eriador. He gave you the equipment you need and charged your party with the task of venturing into the heart of the now monster-infested Mountain of Anduin to call back the people's great hero, Eriador the Paladin. Although the three parties sent before you had not returned, ridding the of the land of the mage seemed worth any risk, and you eagerly set out on your quest. Now, standing before the defiled mountain, you wonder if perhaps you were too hasty.
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!
Some monsters don't have any class. The quest for knowledge can be as dangerous as any other. The heroes investigate a library after one of the locals claims to have seen a librarian be attacked by a tentacled creature. In reality, a group of orcs found a secret entrance into the library and the "tentacle" is merely the whip that the leader wields. The party must make their way through a labyrinth hidden underneath the library and rescue the hostages. Pgs. 4-9
A band of villagers are trapped in a mist-shrouded carnival in the dead of night, facing death at every turn. Can they survive twisted oddities like the corpse-filled Tunnel of Love and the dreaded Bone Coaster? Filled with fantastic art, the Carnival of the Damned unleashes nightmares into any campaign, with encounters refined and polished by the anguished screams of hundreds of players at conventions like Dragon Con and Gary Con! For judges, the adventure fills many needs: author David Baity has crafted over 30 encounters and dozens of random threats. There is enough content for days of tournament play, or judges can select a smaller collection of favorite dangers for a quick DCC funnel session. For sandbox-style play, judges can extract individual encounters whenever a twisted challenge is needed in any old school system. There's even a haunting backstory for those looking to integrate the adventure into an extended campaign. And there’s clowns. Lots and lots of clowns. Published by Purple Sorcerer Games
'Help wanted: Fearless crew to stop undead pirates. Pay bills before applying." The first thing you'll hear is dead silence. The party must hunt down a ghostship disrupting commerce in the trade port of Koll. At least, everyone thinks it's a ghostship, the party may discover otherwise.
Eons-old secrets slumber beneath the forbidden Ghost Ice. Since the time of the Elders, the local tribes have shunned the crawling glacier, knowing it as taboo land that slays all who tread its frigid expanse. Now, the Ghost Ice has shattered, revealing hints at deeper mysteries entombed within its icy grasp. Strange machines and wonderful horrors stir beneath the ice… Frozen in Time is a level 1 adventure for any DCC RPG campaign. It also includes new material for judges who want to send their adventurers in a Stone Age setting!
A mysterious clue has led you outside of the safety of the city’s walls and into the jungle beyond. You have been asked to venture into the jungle and seek out the wisdom of some of the native humanoids in the area—perhaps they will be able to shed some light on the situation and provide some insight on who is behind it all. Part Two of The Jungle Has Fangs Trilogy.
The Wizard’s Amulet is a short, introductory adventure for six newly created good-aligned 1st-level characters. The adventure revolves around Corian, a fledgling Sorcerer. While an apprentice, Corian discovered a letter written by a wizard named Eralion, who it is said some years ago attempted to become a lich—and failed. Accompanying the letter was a mysterious amulet with strange markings. Joined by newfound companions, Corian set off in search of Eralion’s keep and his supposedly unguarded treasure. But Corian is not alone in desiring to unlock the mystery of Eralion’s fate. Darker, more evil forces have designs on the secrets reputedly hidden with Eralion—forces willing to stop at nothing to obtain… The Wizard’s Amulet.
The Mists of Ravenloft draw close, surrounding unfortunate travelers in their clammy embrace. When they part, they reveal the land of Mordent, a domain of rolling moors and woods, beautiful by day and terrifying by night. A new danger lurks in the haunted moors: hounds whose mournful howls and murderous jaws trap the townsfolk in their homes at night. At the heart of it all lies a curse laid a century ago, and a tale of bitter tragedy. Even now, you can hear the howls in the night... Howls in the Night is a dark fantasy murder mystery - but one in which the victim has been dead for 100 years! Alternate adventure backgrounds allow the Dungeon Master to choose one of four possible conclusions. TSR 9466