Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually encounter an area where someone has used Guards & Wards, Symbol, and other spells to actually fortify a location against casual intrusion and thievery? If you want to find out just how deadly a wizard's "getaway cabin" in the mountains can be when the owner isn't there to let you in, this is the adventure for you and your players. Suitable for a single session of play (unless characters get killed, forcing a retreat and later return), there's only one combat encounter, but the traps are deadly. Not recommended for parties below level 12. All of the defenses are based on actual PHB spells, although a couple are assumed to have been bound into items or interactions within the dungeon. This dungeon is originally from the "Against the Idol of the Sun" high-level hexcrawl campaign.
The Blacktooth Ridge, fabled for its string of long abandoned fortreses, treasure houses, temples, and underground mansions lies far to the north and east of the civilized lands. Dangerous journeys and the promise of treasure invite many an adventurer to the wilds along the Ridge. There they sek fame and fortune. But it is an altogether dangerous place, tainted with the evil of the Horned God, there in hidden caves and darkened temples some linger stioll who call him their master. Of late these creatures have issued forth to plague the few people who call the ridge home, the toen of Botkinburg most of all. Now, raids and plundering confound the settlements near the Blacktooth Ridge. Rumors of Rottenkip the Goblin King and his fearless warriors taking up residence in the Blacktooth Ridge are circulating. Ogres and Trolls are raiding villages and looting caravans. Few are coming to the aid of those beset by the depredations and the evil denizens of the Blacktooth Ridge continue to spill out ever further across the lands. The call has gone out, the mustering of militias is at hand, and the Blacktooth Ridge beckons to any and all willing to come to their aid and discover what is calling forth these foul creatures. Also available for 5E
Abandon hope early and avoid the rush. A rebel leader is locked in a prison from which there is no escape. That's why the rebels called for you. The players are recruited to help rescue a prisoner of the Theocracy. The prison is very unique in that the cells are situated in a wheel formation. The prisoners are forced to push against their cell walls every day until after 1 full year (1 full rotation of the wheel), an opening appears in their cell and they are free to leave. There are many paths to success in this adventure, and it can play out more like a heist rather than a dungeon crawl. Pgs. 24-37
Detailed encounter, easily convertible into an adventure. Starts from investigating ambushes on the mountain pass and quickly escalated into a more twisted story about duergars, alhoons, and treasure vaults. Setting-agnostic (classic fantasy - best)
Thomepreus’ curse is a classic crawl with elements of exploration, mystery and time travel. A curse has befallen the heroes and the source of their predicament is located in a buried temple. Here a forgotten cult have used a magical sand clock to curse their enemies. The temple seem empty but the arrival of the heroes appear predetermined and soon the heroes are propelled through time to arrive in the past. Here clues and objects are required to solve the mystery and to break the curse. However, they must hurry before cult members complete the preordained curse on the heroes.
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
Ten thousand flawless killers surround the city. Utterly silent in battle and in death, they seem unconquerable. They mean to choke the life out of the age-old city and leave it an empty ruin. The city calls upon its heroes to defeat this unnatural menace. The heroes gather to ponder the question: how do you defeat an impregnable foe? And then a wizard from a far-off world whisks the heroes away to fight battle of a very different sort, leaving them with a strange neon pink glow around their eyes… Note: This adventure can be used setting neutral or as a means to enter the "Purple Planet" DCC setting.
Twenty years ago, the humans built a dam and flooded Gormelin Valley. They drove the Cinderborn goblins away from their land. But now the Cinderborn are back and they want vengeance. The dam must fall and the human towns must drown! Damnation is a set of two parallel adventures that cover the same events, locations and characters. In The Heroes' Tale, the players control a traditional heroic party. They get to attend a wine festival, save a town from a flood, dive to the bottom of a lake, choose between retaliation and negotiation, and face a demon atop the dam as he attempts to demolish it. The Goblins' Tale tells the other side of the story, allowing players to take control of a party of goblins. As the Cinderborn, they must deal with human spies, sneak into a wizard's tower, trigger a catastrophic flood, choose between peace and vengeance, face their own demonic leader, or aid him in breaking the dam. Also included: maps and goblin pregens!
There is a witch in the wilds, a goddess unremembered, and a madman. There is a circle of stone - who knows what lies beneath? The villagers are distraught: their children! replaced by fae! The villagers are distraught: who heeded their plea? Ravenous inquisitors, that's who. Oh, and adventurers... This investigative folkcrawl adventure module contains: * an isolated village full of secrets, riddled with strange traditions, * adventure sites and dungeons populated by peculiar denizens, * a small Fae Realm to explore, weird and perilous, * a terrible fae threat and too many curses, * unlikely friends, and foes nobody expects! An OSR adventure module for character levels 3-4, designed for use with the Old-School Essentials ruleset, compatible with most old-school pen-and-paper RPGs. Includes a fully-linked interactive PDF, a fillable Referee's Toolkit, and player-friendly VTT maps.
Anamdael is a small town remarkable only for its peacefulness. However, the town harbors a dark secret: Long ago, a resident entered into a pact with a Night Hag, whose services come at a price. Travelers who once gave little thought to Anamdael now hear rumors of a strange cult in its woods. Your party is hired to locate and return a missing person, last known to be traveling to Anamdael. Before you may enter “Mother’s” land, you face your first test. Your responses determine more than you know and set the stage for an eerie adventure.
This high level adventure returns the PCs to Helvana. A recent adventure has netted the party some Adamant, a rare ore in Filbar that is excellent for constructing weapons of amazing quality. As you arrive in Vorshmorgan to locate a smith you quickly discover there are problems in town. The scenario was designed to give upper level players a challenge and pits them against one of the most feared creatures in the land!
A wandering farm boy falls foul of an ancient trap and is plunged into a death-like sleep. The cure lies in a temple hidden in the green gloom of Merthington Woods, but to find it, the adventurers must brave a set of terrible traps laid by a forgotten sect of priests...
Hundreds of years have passed since the great war of Valhalla, but the repercussions are known throughout the lands. The Valkyries were once Odin’s greatest warriors who ferried the dead to the eternal resting place of Valhalla. Odin tells it that their duties asked too much of them and their minds were corrupted. In fits of uncontrollable rage and anguish, they began to slaughter the warriors they once protected. Only four Valkyries survived the war; in their cowardice, they fled to Midgard and hid amongst the mortals. You have been tasked with finding the last Valkyrie and destroying her, once and for all ending the Madness of the Valkyries. But there may be more to learn in the once-great halls.
Dark Water Trap is a mini-adventure that has a single encounter that involves Duergar using darkness and anti-darkvision to get the player to fall into a Pit trap full of water, so that the party will drown. The encounter either works as a standalone (Ie. the Duergar have been causing trouble), or as a part of a larger adventure or dungeon, Duegar or otherwise. Pgs. 26-27
Chase a choldrith trying to incite a war! Detour through an abandoned dwarven mine when your path is blocked by a cave in! Fight through dangerous beasts to get back on the choldrith's tail. In this 6-8 hour adventure for 4-5 characters of 3rd level, explore an old dwarven mine and fight through a hive of dangerous beasts to get back on the trail of the choldrith your group has been pursing. Includes: A 6-8 hour adventure for 3rd level characters 2 DM maps Copies of the maps suitable for use in your favorite virtual tabletop Stat blocks for all monsters the players might encounter. 4 new undead versions of NPCs Be sure to check out the first two installments in this series: Into the Underdark - Part 1 A Family Affair Into the Underdark - Part 2 The Spider's Den
This setting is a collective of different area encounters for several different character levels. While this land was a frequently traveled area for the adventurers it was used for a variety of challenges. While not every challenge is met for every level it is up to the PCs to decide if they are up for the challenge they discover. Of course you can always ‘discourage’ or hide some encounters from the party. It can also be used in an area frequented by the PC party that can offer an increased challenge with each visit they make.
About: This encounter was cooked up in the Write your First Encounter workshop by the Storytelling Collective. It CAN be slid in as a side quest in any urban or sub-urban context, or be adapted to add confusion to any rescue mission you are presently running. Synopsis: Through the doorway a young woman shackled to the wall matching the description of Helena can be seen. Though disheveled and looking to be in great discomfort, her beauty is remarkable. But on closer inspection, there are other people here — three identical Helenas! Noble woman Elize Cleron has hired the party to infiltrate the catacombs under the Schaefer Estate and free her twin sister Helena. Helena is being held captive by the Schaefer family, trade rivals rumored to have ties to the underworld. Elize has been unable to free her sister herself because of her identical appearance. Rather than pay an unrealistic ransom, Elize has provided the party with what they need to break her out. This encounter is intended for 3rd level characters.
A fiend lurks among the Black Blade goblins. A shapeshifting barghest fashioned by the General of Gehenna to exact revenge on all goblin-kind. It’s aim: to kill as many goblin leaders as possible… A masked goblin approaches the party asking for help. Two tribe leaders are dead. But a rival for chief has control of the crime scene. Will the party discover the barghest among the goblin ranks? Can they stop this imposter before it strikes again? Adventure Overview The adventure’s story is spread over 4 parts and takes approximately 4 hours to play. The adventure begins with a Call to Action scene. Part 1: Goblin Politics. Krill sends his emissaries to implore help from any strong intermediary. The party is asked to investigate the murder of Thrawn in Dringly’s lair. This is Story Objective A. Part 2: The Opposition. Gain entry into Dringly’s lair and investigate the murder of Thrawn. Gather enough evidence to find the killer. This is Story Objective B. Part 3: To The Lair! Now that the players have determined the barghest (Yeep) is to blame, they need to get to Krill’s lair quickly as he is in imminent danger. This is Story Objective C. Part 4: The Barghest.When the players arrive at the lair, they need to get to Krill and expose and defeat the barghest. This is Story Objective D. Adventure Background A barghest named Yeep has begun its onslaught of attacks against the Black Blade goblins. Starting with Chief Gnar, then his second in command Thrawn, the barghest is moving methodically down the line of command. Krill is now chief. But he has some problems: Two leaders of the Black Blades are dead. Who killed them and why? Is he next? Dringly, the next in command, has decided to take his lair for himself, declaring himself Chief of the Black Blades. Who are the Black Blades? The Black Blades are a tribe of goblins in the local area. They are known for dipping their blades in a dark black substance. It is rumored these blades are poisonous. The Black Blades regularly attack passersby on the road to rob them. The Black Blades have two lairs, one run by a chief who leads the whole tribe, and another overseen by a boss lieutenant. The Black Blades have a well-established pecking order which is how Krill stands to become chief. The next in line is Dringly, who has also declared himself chief and wants Krill dead. Krill suspects that there is something suspicious about two leaders being killed within a day of each other, but he has already burned Gnar’s body without any investigation. He needs to investigate the body of Thrawn, but it is in Dringly’s lair. Krill wishes to avoid direct confrontation with Dringly at the present for three reasons: 1) Any violence would only kill his own tribe members and further divide the lairs. 2) He believes there is still hope for negotiation to reunite the Black Blades. 3) He believes that if he were to attempt negotiations himself, Dringly would kill him. This adventure features: Two maps. Ready for your favorite Virtual Tabletop. A full color pdf. A black and white pdf. One custom monster, a reprint of barghest, all others available in the Monster Manual. Four hours of entertainment involving: roll playing a goblin bard, investigating a murder scene, tracking down a barghest before it strikes again. Applicable to any setting.
Deep in these caverns overrun with all sorts of foul creatures are two sister hags. Once of the same coven, they now have a bitter rivalry but both refuse to the leave these caverns they call home. The cave received its name thanks to the terrifying sounds that echo through it. Some say it is just the wind brushing against the stone but the rumors all speak of two horrifying sisters casting curses and performing diabolic rituals with human sacrifices in a never-ending hatred. Heroes will face goblin, hag, bat, hook horror, and other terrifying monstrosities deep within the tunnels of The Shrieking Caverns. This dungeon does not contain any of the puzzles from the puzzle section, though there are a few situations the players will find themselves in that will require more than phsyical strength. That being said, this dungeon contains many combat encounters and is expected to take multiple nights to complete.
This Adventure is based on the web comic series, Table Titans. It is set in the same village that part of the comic takes place in, however the path of the adventure does not follow the story line set in the comics. There are familiar elements that are a wink and a nod to fans of the comic, but it is a unique story. The adventure is set around the village of Haverford, currently beset by an unknown [i]Terror[/i] that has resulted in many many deaths in the surrounding forest. The adventures have arrived at this once peaceful hamlet and if they discover the source of the [i]Terror[/i] plaguing the region they will be handsomely rewarded. The Terror of Haverford is a starter adventure. Characters will advance from level 1 to 4 if completed. This adventure has both social and combat encounters, as well as combat encounters that can be solved socially. If characters aren't thorough in their investigations they will be taken by surprise by what lies ahead.