Long ago, a local priest created a warded graveyard on a remote hillside. As the years passed, it gained a reputation as a spot whose defenses were powerful enough to keep undead in and tomb robbers out. Adventurers began to bring the remains of any creatures they suspected might become restless in death to the Tomb Steppe for interment, and in time they also sought aid against such creatures from the friendly priest. After his death, a brief spate of undead activity commenced, then died away once again. As the years passed, the tales of undead activity in the Tomb Steppe faded into legend, and colonists began to move into the lands nearby. The town of Night Falls was founded a short distance from the graveyard, and it grew quickly into a thriving trade center and farming community. Realizing that the Tomb Steppe was safe enough during the day, the citizens began burying their dead there rather than building new crypts on pristine farmland. Because this method of interment was cheap and easy, people from many surrounding communities brought their dead to the town as well. The business of burial brought new prosperity to Night Falls, and a guild called the Funerary House sprang up to control the trade. But it seems that the threat from the Tomb Steppe has not entirely been laid to rest. The Great Mausoleum -- the largest and finest tomb in the steppe, has been unsealed, and an apparition has been seen within. Who will go to the Tomb Steppe by night and reseal the tomb? Lest Darkness Rise is a short adventure for four 7th-level characters. In keeping with the season, it has a stronger horror theme than most D&D adventures. This scenario can be used as the climax of a series of adventures featuring its secondary characters, or it can simply be a site-based adventure that the PCs stumble across at the right moment. The scenario is set in a semi-civilized area in the far north, far from cities and churches, where winters are harsh and summers never get very hot. These inhospitable conditions have resulted in a low humanoid population. The scenario need not be set in such a wilderness; a rural farming community far from cities works just as well. The only real requirement is that the area have few settlements. The action takes place in the small town of Night Falls and a nearby necropolis of tombs, mausoleums, and graves known as the Tomb Steppe. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
Part 5 of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path takes place in Ustalav's capital Caliphas. The heroes are in the city to follow the trail of evidence left by the neromantic cult The Whispering Way and strengthen their bonds with the mysterious Order of the Palantine Eye. Whilst in the city, they uncover a string of murders. When they discover that all the victims were vampires, they descend into the underground vampire city and have the possibility to form a tentative alliance with the vampire clans. If they help solve the murders, the vampire lord promises to help them on their quest. What role do the deadly necromancers have in the undead murders plaguing Caliphas? What secret grudge exists between the cult and the rulers of the night? And will the heroes be able to save the capital without sacrificing their very souls? This book includes: - “Ashes at Dawn,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters, by Neil Spicer - A gazetteer of fog-haunted Caliphas, the mysterious and deadly capital of Ustalav, by F. Wesley Schneider - A terrifying look into the blasphemous church of Urgathoa, goddess of gluttony, disease, and the undead, by Sean K Reynolds - Laurel Cylphra’s attempt to steal a soul stealer in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider - Six new monsters by Crystal Frasier, Patrick Renie, and Sean K Reynolds
For years, the Most Solemn Order of the Silent Shroud has tended the dead at Valinghen graveyard, providing them a peaceful eternal rest. Now, that rest has been disturbed by a necromancer seeking out a key to re-activate the Pool of Radiance.
Despite the adventurers’ best efforts, more creatures joined under Bad Fruul’s banner. No longer content to simply attack caravans or isolated homesteads, the hill giant warlord descends upon Parnast at the head of a great force of humanoids. SEER warns the adventurers (directly now) in time to rally the town and prepare defenses, but a heroic effort is required to break the siege.
In the parched desert sands, a mirage glistens invitingly on the horizon, but the nearest water is a hard day’s march in the opposite direction. You swear you smell the faint wet smell like coming rain when the wind shifts just right and see the stars reflected off some far lake at night. There’s no water here, just a lone sandblasted pillar, its features smeared by centuries of sand. Smell that? The brine of ocean mist? Here? Is the pillar made of coral polyps and mollusk shells? What is this place? An aquatic temple magically transported to an arid environment. Based on the author’s one-page map that was published in Knock #2 by Merry Mushmen. Published by Duvelman Dice.
This 4 hour adventure for 3rd level characters begins in a prison cell where the adventurers must figure out a way to escape, acquire weapons and armor to defend themselves more effectively, and most importantly, escape a repurposed dwarven forge that has been appropriated by a fire giant who uses slave labor and even a captured red dragon wyrmling to smelt ore and forge an arsenal under the volcano Mt. Hotenow.
Part One of the Umbral Aristocracy Trilogy. Rumors abound of a map that leads to a treasure of unimaginable value. When chance drops the map into your hands, you have the chance to become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. But you’re not the only ones with that dream. The chase is on. A Two-Hour Adventure for Tier 1 Characters.
An Adventure for 0-Level Characters Remember the good old days, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics don’t waste your time with long-winded speeches, weird campaign settings, or NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know are there somewhere. For the past few years, an ogre that lairs in a cave near the wilderness town of Dundraville has demanded tributes of ale and supplies. The villagers were happy to comply, lest the brute attack them or destroy their property. But recently, the ogre changed his demands. Now he wants gold, building supplies — and captives! When the ogre walked into town only to have his request denied, he flew into a rage. The brute dragged two townsfolk off to his cave, to be eaten for sure! The villagers have no heroes to protect them — so someone must rise to the challenge! Six determined townsfolk have taken justice into their own hands. Can these village commoners defeat the ogre in his own lair before their fellows are eaten?
While exploring for hints of the Kobolds lair, an unexpected plea changes everything. This is the fourth and final adventure in a miniseries with the following adventures being: A Chance Encounter The Mystic Circle An Urgent Rescue In addition to the adventure, there are a few of maps of the adventure area as separate jpeg files. There is also a printer friendly version of the adventure.
The coastal village of Caer Garrion has mysteriously depopulated, and the only survivior, a lone prisoner in the local jail, has gone mad. What does this village's sinister fate portend for the Moonshae Isles?
Forest in Twilight is a four- to six-hour adventure for 1st-2nd level characters, designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, with a forest wilderness theme, blights, druids, and a trek through the woods to find the origin of the blights. The level of guidance is for newer DMs but without being training wheels. Set in the Neverwinter Woods north of Phandalin, blights are leaving the woods and attacking settlers and travelers along the roads in the area. A group of druids wants to keep the people and forest safe, but one druid in particular is only concerned about the forest. The PCs will have to determine which side to back, if any, in finding out more about the blights and stopping the threat. This adventure can also be used as a standalone adventure, or slotted into the early quests in the Dragon of Icespire Peak or Lost Mine of Phandelver campaigns. Included with this adventure are: + 4 combat encounters and multiple opportunities for exploration and social encounters + Multiple NPCs with stated personality traits and goals, including roleplaying tips for the major ones + Hazards and diseases the characters encounter in the woods + Madness effects + 4 maps of important locations + Some guidance on how you might continue the story
First the bandits attacked then the Roc carried away the guide. Since then you have blindly followed the camels hoping that their instincts would lead you to water or help of some kind. You and your friends are lost in a sea of sand. Plodding along in the shadow of the camels and doing your best to stay alert. Ahead the heat shimmers take shape. This time it is a castle. Blinking away the dryness in your eyes you realize that the tower is not a mirage but it is broken.
The vile city of Scuttlecove is the home of murderers, thieves, demon whorshipers, peddlers of vice, and monsters. Here, anyone can find a place to hide, provided they can survive the terrors and dangers that infest the city streets. Scuttlecove is also the home of the Crimson Fleet, a notorious band of pirates who have long held the Vohoun Ocean as their private looting grounds. The time has come to take the fight to these legendary pirates, to confront them in their own depraved lair. "Serpents of Scuttlecove" is the eighth chapter in the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon Magazine. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon magazine's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #344 of Dragon magazine features several additional locations the PCs might wish to visit during their stay in the city of Scuttlecove. The characters once again board the Sea Wyvern, this time to sail for Scuttlecove – a hideous city of pirates, slavers, cannibals, and worse – in search of clues to the final Savage Tide and the rescue of their patron. Pgs. 42-75 Also see Pgs. 76-85 for Backdrop: Scuttlecove City of Chaos.
House Tarkanan and the Trust have embroiled the Sharn underworld in a silent war, the result of which has dire consequences for Zilargo. The characters must fight their way through assassins, aberrant dragonmarks, information brokers, and fancy parties in this conflict between shadow organizations.
The village of Haven-Fara has a problem - it's been overrun with spiders that have been forced out of their nearby lair. Yet could this spider problem be merely a symptom of something worse to come? When the backwater town of Haven-Fara wakens under a thick blanket of webs to find half its populace missing, its up to the PCs to descend into a silk-chambered nest of the arachnid abductors. In a vertical maze of web-lined tunnels, they discover a dying queen, a legendary treasure, and a secret that could change Haven-Fara forever. Pgs. 14-20 & 22-28 & 30, 32 and 34
In the hills near the Sword Coast is an old, abandoned temple to the goddess Mystra. A young halfling wizard named Raoul Footpad finds the abandoned temple and converts it into a laboratory. One day, Raoul returns home to the village of Prairiedale, only to find his parents gravely ill. With few options for their recovery, Raoul becomes obsessed with creating a magic spell to cure them. He and his assistant work feverishly to find the right magic, but instead they release calamity upon this portion of the world. Raoul is transformed into a hideous monster, and undead now inhabit the laboratory. 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐎𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮! This adventure also features a new creature: The Greater Nothic! This adventure module is meant to assist the DM with providing content to their players. This adventure is intended to run in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, but it can be compatible with any campaign setting, especially Ravenloft. This module is intended for 4 to 6 players, 3rd level characters.
With Pardor in the middle of a heated civil war, your PCs have their own futures to ponder. Pulling into the fortified town of Parmatu, the group quickly discovers that they are not the only strangers in town. The plot thickens quickly as the adventurers discover that the other strangers are none other than a member of the royal family. Can the PCs help defend the rightful heir against a group of marauders hell bent on catching the young lord?
Lowharbor’s residents vanish when they die. A cloud of sour black smoke chokes their corpses and, when it clears, all that remains is a dusting of salt. Something or someone is stealing bodies through magic ritual, and the townsfolk won't stand for it! Send your party into the dank sewers below their feet to root out the necromancer's den of swirling filth! Why should you get this module? Skulking horrors and excitable clerics! Seven brand new monsters, including a low level mythic statblock! New disease rules! A mysterious threat! Six hours of play! Lavish presentation! A fantastic adventure for 5th-level players! Dead Ends is best for 5th-level players. It might be a little tough, but still winnable, for 4th-level, and should be fine for anything up to 8th-level.
Beneath the fetid roots of a noisome swamp linger the pathetic remnants of a once proud and noble tribe. Laid low by a powerful narcotic administered by their ambitious (but wildly paranoid) mistress, the lizardfolk of the Dark Oak are but a shadow of their former greatness. Now, in the fetid caverns below the slumbering body of a diseased treant she plots to bring bloody slaughter to the folk of the nearby villages before her followers forget their proud heritage and sink into a lethargy from which there is no escape.
A fast-paced one-shot from the bestselling author of The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse! A shadowy force gathers inside the abandoned halls of Lastwatch Keep. Can the players defeat the drow invaders before they escape to the underworld with sinister intelligence about the surface? Shadows of Lastwatch Keep is a one-shot adventure for four or five 4th-level characters. It takes about 3-4 hours to complete and includes: -A drow strike team desperate to escape the keep’s surprise foe -A new monster, the drow commando -Combat cards for each monster, PC, and special treasure -A beautiful, hand-drawn map by Jake from Beware the Wizard