This scenario was presented to Gryphcon's 30th anniversary last year. The party finds themselves coming to the Triland on their way to Taco Del Toro. This island chain is unique in that it has a land mass made of clouds, hovering over the island. Upon landing, your group discovers that the governor's child has been abducted by a Cloud Giantess. Time for your hero hats...
"An ancient temple to the forgotten god of swords lies hidden behind a waterfall. Great piles of swords choke its halls and spill out into nearby streams and waterways. What strangeness still treads and what swords will you draw in the Temple of 1000 Swords? -A tarot-inspired fantasy RPG dungeon delve for 3rd level characters -Created for Old-School Essentials (B/X), compatible with RPGs with old-school sensibilities -A 19 room, keyed dungeon, easily insertable into a fantasy RPG campaign, sandbox, or “west marches” style table -d100 weird, magic, and cursed swords to discover. Roll to search the piles! -Anything is a sword--create weird sword creations through the temple's cursed magic -New monsters, factions, spirits, and curses -Includes a high-resolution unlabeled map for VTT use" "Temple of 1000 Swords" is set in a mystical temple filled with countless swords and intriguing magic. It offers a dense, exploration-heavy dungeon experience with unique mechanics and a rich backdrop of ongoing conflicts. Players can choose to ally with the Drukks (humanoid carnivorous ducks) or Merfolk (jocks) and manipulate both for their ends, or try to avoid conflict altogether. Gladio, the god of swords, issues quests that can alter the course of the adventure, demanding moral and strategic decisions from the players.
Horrors in the Dark The origin of the ShadowGate is lost in antiquity. Some claim it as the work of devils, others cannibal cultists or even demon lords. Not long after its discovery it was boarded up by the priests of the local church, and then fortified by paladins. Of late something has emerged from the portal. It remains trapped within the divine defences, but for how long?
Laveth, Lolth's half drow daughter, is plotting to seize power from her chaotic evil mother.
"Ambush at Boxcar Rocks" is a two hour adventure for character level 1-3 (3-6 players) but is easily adapted to challenge higher level PCs by adjusting the spawn rate and the spawn limit. It features one hand-drawn, color map. It can be run as a brutal oneshot gauntlet or a quick side quest to pad the players purses. Deep within the labyrinth of massive, glacier deposited rocks there is a natural cave once used for interring the dead. Now the bones of the pit within stir because of a foolish neophyte. A listless, blood thirsty horde tramples toward daylight and nothing will remain in their wake...
After a restful time in Queen’s Point you begin to hear rumors of some “lost city” being discovered. After speaking with some of the locals and visiting the library you become intrigued. Apparently Harvick was abandoned during the plague years and its riches were never recovered. Along with the regular valuables one would find in an abandoned city, it is rumored that an ancient artifact or two may also be present. Sounds like it’s time to strap on the adventuring gear and take a look around.
Deep in the elven forests of Myereth, ancient rowan trees spread white boughs above a sacred site. Pillars of stone twist like some strange form of vine, curling among the branches and reflecting the light of a silvery moon. The forest is silent, and beautiful, protected since the dawn of time by a powerful Unicorn. The elven forest of Myereth is well known throughout the world as a safe haven of good and peace, a place where evil cannot stand to enter and where the trees weep healing tears upon those injured within its boundaries. Any player character elves know of the forest, its healing properties, and its legendary beauty. They may have heard of it as a legend, or they may have visited its mystic shrine when they were children, brought along on a pilgrimage by other elves. But something has gone terribly wrong. Refugees from Myereth, terrified and confused, are flooding into other elven cities. They speak of a great evil that has conquered the forest, one that has killed the body of the immortal Unicorn and tainted its spirit. Myereth runs with blood, they say, and the once-powerful rowan trees have begun to wither and die. In the center of the Rowan Grove, the bloodied bodies of the last elven warriors of Myereth lie scattered and broken. Those responsible call themselves the Servants of the Blood Moon, and they are led by a dark-robed sorcerer. The surviving elves do not know this evil man — all but one of those who fought against the Servants died — but they know that the sorcerer calls himself Tamarat. He has butchered the Unicorn, the spirit of the forest. The Myereth, and the elves, are dying.
Numb Island sits in the north seas and is home to Miles Away a struggling settlement with a variety of problems. This adventure setting has a variety of different side adventures that can be used in a continuing campaign or as individual scenarios. Each of the scenario has a level recommendation so that you, the DM, can pick and choose what the party may be ready for and what adventures are better to pass over. In the Filbar campaign the adventurers found themselves on Numb Island several times during their adventuring career and were not strangers in Miles Away!
Save the village of Millvein! Prevent a war with the drow! In this 3-4 hour adventure for 4-5 characters of 2nd level, travel to a small chitine lair to prevent them from destroying the small village of Millvein and inciting a war between the surface and the drow. Includes: A 3-4 hour adventure for 2nd level characters Map of the village of Millvein 2 DM maps Stat blocks for all monsters the players might encounter. See where the adventure began in Into the Underdark - Part 1 A Family Affair The adventure continues in Into the Underdark - Part 3 They Call It A Mine
From the magazine: "Brave are the mortals who take on the tasks of the gods - and dreadful their fate if they fail." This adventure is heavily themed on Greek mythology, using Greek gods as NPCs and even sending the PCs back to ancient Greece to obtain the main object of the quest. Eventually the PCs find the chest that they seek, which actually holds the god Hermes inside. He was being held by the Aloeids, two brother cyclops. After rescuing him, the PCs may gain his favor and perhaps the favor of more Greek gods.
Centuries ago, a green dragon terrorized the civilized lands near its lair. As the beast grew in power, countless cult followers gathered. With the help of its worshipers, the dragon transformed into a runescribed dracolich. The dragon and its cult grew larger and more powerful over the centuries. This, of course, led to war with the surrounding nations. After terrible battles and much loss, the cultists were slaughtered and the dragon destroyed, but its phylactery could not be found. The beast reformed, gathered cultists anew, and again was defeated. The phylactery still could not be found. This time, the powers of civilization decided not to destroy the beast, but to trap it, locking it away and setting various guards. Recently, a divination ritual performed by someone the PCs respect revealed that great peril will arise if a creature lairing in Mount Sorrowspire (the dracolich) is not destroyed. Pgs. 180-185
Once a naval powerhouse, the Kingdom of Bane ruled the waters wherever they went. Four decades ago the neighboring countries noticed a stark difference taking over the once lush Bane. As the years progressed, rumors swirled about the downfall of the proud nation but the overall view was that a curse took over. The kingdom had been famous for the multitude of riches and magic it once possessed and it is widely believed that undiscovered treasures await any adventurer brave enough to test their mettle against the curse as well as the elements. This offering is 70 pages of magic, challenges, and a lot of urban discoveries. This scenario can be cut up and used as individual projects or as a massive campaign. The original campaign allowed the players to move from fifth level up to eighth!
After successfully protecting the crown in Part 1, the city council asks you to find and stop the demonic force infecting the thieves guild. Continuation from part 1 found in Polyhedron #22 Pgs. 13-20
A cry for help by a small village in the Howling Valley. An abandoned monastery on top of the mountain. Hordes of undead pouring into the realms. A mad mage with bad intentions. Will you be able to put an end to the unfortunate events in the valley?
After a series of successful exploits you and your associates decide it is time for a nice vacation. You pull into the large city of Breckengarden to take a few weeks off when you are approached by a courier. After a clandestine meeting you are informed that several well-known adventurers have been disappearing and the party has been asked to resolve the issue. The bigger problem is the likely source of the kidnappings is the master of the Cloud Giant kingdom that floats above the ground!
You have been sent to be an envoy for your country to a desert nation recently created. The area is known as a bandit haven and the new ruler ascended due to his overthrow of the others. As you open dialogue, Frito, the new leader, is willing to accept a trade agreement if the party resolves a few renegade issues for him. Designed for four, fourth level PCs!
The nephew of a once famous adventurer decides to make a name for himself and bites off more than he can chew. Short on options, and worried for his nephew’s life, he needs your help. Travel to the ruins of Dhonin's Lookout atop Standiac Hill to find and rescue the young adventurer. Uncover a plot that could lead to the destruction of the village of Millvein, and even more dire future consequences. Includes: A 3-4 hour adventure for 1st level characters Map of the village of Millvein 2 DM maps Stat blocks for all monsters the players might encounter. The adventure continues in Into the Underdark - Part 2 The Spider's Den
Katha is a fully built city with nearly a hundred NPCs, dozens of shops, and many different factions all vying for power over this growing city. Katha is a growing city-state that can expand (or regress) in any direction depending on the choices of your group. It can easily suit any party of any size or level but is designed for mid-level parties with money to spend. The city will grow (or shrink) and change at the party's every move, making it a city full of potential. The document also includes a map and key for the city, four stat blocks for two major NPCs, a new monster, a boss fight, and a dungeon map. Katha is designed to be placed into any setting with only minor alterations. Advice for how to fit Katha into your setting is provided throughout the document. Included is also a plotline that can span anywhere between four and ten sessions. The Cult of the Storm, a mysterious and millenarian cult, hopes to bring about the end of the world so that it may be reborn. Several of the groups and NPCs in Katha are secretly working for the Cult. Will your party realize that they are accidentally helping them in time to stop the Cult from assembling the four parts of the weather control artifact and starting The Storm? The plot will also develop the city and reward your party not with wealth, but with property and the ability to build what they want and invest their time and energy into growing Katha.
Disturbing shadows have grown long over the northern reaches of The Land of Song. The fierce people who once fished the chilly fjords and hunted in the evergreen peaks now huddle in their villages. An evil is abroad in the land. The heroes are charged by Jarl Yngvar with traveling to the Valley of the Sleeping Jarls, an old tomb in the hills where dead kings are laid to rest, to discover the source of the malevolence bearing down upon the land and with eradicating it. Who can say what evil lurks amid the towering peaks and shadowed fjords? For decades this malevolent being plotted his vengeance upon Hjalmar’s heirs, for the jarl had gone the way of all mortals. Taking for himself the name Mogens (“powerful”), this evil spirit, now a self-styled dark lord, gathered wicked cronies and servants to itself and came to the Valley of the Sleeping Jarls. There, he has spent nearly two decades corrupting and desecrating the sacred resting place, reshaping the hollowed tombs into a blasphemous temple to his infernal lord.
Originally designed as a convention module, this adventure sends the heroes into the underdark to do battle against the mysterious denizens of the deep! A drow housemistress commissions the characters to acquire a mysterious weapon known to be in the hands of her dark elf enemies. Locating, identifying, and acquiring the magical weapon leads the heroes on a great trek across the underdeep, where they must battle svirfneblin, a powerful lich, and enemy drow. This adventure us specifically designed for play by drow characters, but can be used with any adventuring party. Pregenerated drow characters are included.