You return to the peculiar village of Basht for one of their unusual festivals: the procession of the Straw Bears. While there, you meet some old friends and are asked to escort the brave villagers into the woods to continue the party into the night. It should be perfectly safe, shouldn’t it? A Two to Four-Hour Adventure for Tier 1 Characters. Optimized for APL 3. The Straw Bears originally debuted at U-Con on November 2020. (https://www.ucon-gaming.org/)
You come across a poster for a novelty stage act, and the performer looks exactly like...YOU! They're using your name, and your face! Worse still, their performance is OUTRAGEOUS! You need to put a stop to this, your reputation is at stake! This is a one-to-one adventure designed for one player of the bard class and one DM.
A desperate refugee emerges from the earth's depths in shadow-cloaked Nidal with an urgent pleas. A new faction in the subterranean dark folk city of Lyrudrada -- a wicked cult called the Reborn -- seeks a fabled artifact called the Cradle of Night. Vanished demigods of the Shadow Plane once used this artifact to craft the elusive caligni race, and the Reborn want to use it to shroud the world in darkness once more. Cursed with the stain of shadow, the heroes must battle their way through the tomb of an ancient horselord chieftain before descending to Lyrudrada. Plots and schemes run rampant in this city riven with political upheavals and back-alley bloodshed, and the heroes must collect allies and information to confront the Reborn in their fortified fane. With the mysterious masters of the caligni race arrayed against them, can the heroes hope to shed their shadowy curse and claim the Cradle of Night?
Hi! I am pleased to present the official English-language release of the Italian best-selling adventure: La Seconda Alba Nera – The Second Black Dawn! If anyone is looking for a good starter adventure for 5th edition but wants something a bit grittier and darker may I recommend it. The Second Black Dawn is coming ... The king is missing. Hordes of undead spread across the kingdom like a plague. Outlaws attack and pillage defenseless villages. A party of adventurers is called upon to explore the region and investigate the mysterious disappearance of the king. Main Features: - A compelling, dark adventure estimated to last over 30 hours of gameplay and bring the characters from 1st to 5th level. - Five new monsters and one new weapon - Random encounters designed specifically to integrate with the tone of the adventure. - A list of music suitable for use as a soundtrack to accompany the adventure, to engage the players and emphasize the adventure's atmosphere. - Four pre-generated characters usable for the adventure. - Hypertext links in both the index and the text and bookmarks included. - An optimized PDF also available in a printer-friendly version. Find out what is bringing the kingdom to its knees... before it’s too late! Thanks to Marco Fossati for the translation and Simon Collins for the English-language editing. Any questions, please ask!
60 years ago, a wizard's tower was encased in a magical glacier. Now a crack has appeared, exposing the tower for adventures. Inside, a magic artifact turns any who did in the tower to undead, including the PCs.
Book 4 in the Iron Gods campaign: A great threat is rising in Silver Mount, but a precious item belonging to a mysterious entity called Casandalee has yet to be found. With the Dominion of the Black still an ever-present danger, players must navigate a dangerous canyon, the Scar of the Spider, in hopes of learning more about their enemies, and to accomplish their mission.
Draconic adventures in the scorching sands! In the desert, the Wyverns gather and move in prides. Their power is fearsome alone, but together almost unstoppable. Their eggs are valuable and sought after by thrill seekers, culinary connoisseurs, and purveyors of exotic pets and mounts. Two large groups—big game hunters looking for trophies and native desert nomads whose culture practices conservation of the Wyverns—are set to clash at a Wyvern Nest. A Sorceress wishes to stop all exploitation of the bestial dragons. These three groups require adventurers to succeed. But who will the adventurers side with? And what of the ruthless mercenary group The Furious Few? This Tales of the Valiant Compatible Adventure Module Toolkit Provides: • one regional map and four location maps to adventure in • Desert Wyvern Ecology and statblocks for various stages of development • Details of the three major factions vying for control of the eggs • A ruthless party of rivals for your players' characters • Over 60 NPC bios to help populate the desert and craft your tale. • Desert Environment rules and hazards
In this small side adventure the party will find evidence that one of their members may undergo a quest to be deemed a 'Mithel Company Champion' and as such gain certain powers within the Labyrinth. These special abilities are only known to be had by some of the greatest of company leaders, and they will be very helpful when taking on the final stages of the dungeon. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
Mystery, intrigue, infiltration. The inner politics of an active thieves Guild. The Thieves Guild Fence, Tessa, knows the head of her Guild is trying to kill her. But there is more at stake than their lives, the very soul of the Guild is in peril. Tessa turns to a party of adventurers to find evidence of the Guild Master's betrayal, uncover his shadowy benefactor, and support her in an All-Masks meeting to determine the fate of the Misbegot Thieves. As well as an adventure, this book can also be used to give you the framework of a Thieves Guild in an agnostic setting and offer quest seeds for follow up quests working to get the Misbegot Thieves Guild back on track. Sharpen your knives and prepare for war.
South of Tarlac Keep and across Lake Lowe lies a dormant volcano and its set of caverns. This location is currently the home to the powerful Artillus Highwing a massive Black Dragon. Artillus and his mate were responsible for the destruction of Tarlac at the cost of his partner. Artillus lost most of his army that day and has since moved into the caverns and attempted to rebuild the army to set his revenge upon the area.
Far out in the void, an ancient city of vampires endures. Welcome to Araveshti, a city of a thousand towers floating safely in the shadow of the world, glittering with starlight, thrumming with ancient magics, and crawling with vicious immortals. Will you seek to destroy these bloodthirsty aristocrats? Or will you help them pursue their bizarre alchemical experiments in immortality? Or will you simply seek a way to escape their twisted and crumbling paradise? Within these ancient towers, adventurers will find vampire lords and servants, zealots and goliaths, as well as werewolves, mycotic zombies, victims of strange experimentation, fanatical holy knights, tragic vampire hunters in black, shipwrecked dreamers, castaway aliens, metal angels, eldritch horrors, star dragons, and (of course) the vampires' giant dragon-killing mecha suit... This is a dark sandbox. Players will explore a vast city of undead people and monsters in outer space, full of homages to classic horror and science fiction films and literature. ADVENTURE TYPE: Mid Level / Combat / Exploration / Dark Fantasy / Fantasy City / Gothic Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for mid-level characters around Level 5-10 Players explore a large vampire city in space, encounter numerous NPCs and monsters, and engage with diverse factions to destroy, conquer, or escape from the city 40+ unique encounter locations, plus countless randomly generated locations 100+ original magic items 40+ original monsters One city map Estimated play time: 1-8 sessions (4-32 hours)
From a ruined theater in the run-down Puddles district of Absalom, a goblin hero and self-styled king rules over the nearby goblins. Shifting foundations beneath the playhouse have revealed ruins from Absalom's early history, and the goblin king has put out a call for explorers to search the area and clear out its dangers. The Pathfinder Society has answered the call. They aren't the only group that is interested, however, and they must prove themselves to earn the right to enter these lost chambers.
Have You No Heart? is a standalone adventure set in the peculiar village of Basht. Olivia Alfera calls the party back to Basht to help Robin Goodman reunite a girl with her father. A Four-Hour Adventure for Tier 2 characters, Optimized for APL 8. Featuring a new domain: Nepenthe, a domain of forgetting. Content Warnings: Grief, Loss of a Relative, Memory Loss Have You No Heart will debut at U-Con in October 2022 (http://www.ucon-gaming.org/) The story continues shortly after The Party that Split. It continues the tale that started with The Goat Mayor, but each episode can be played on their own. The village of Basht is a little Grimm's Fairy Tale village that was used for several CCCs and DungeonCrafts U-Con. I hope that your players enjoy the whimsy and dark undercurrents as much as mine have, and I would love it if you share your experiences in Basht with me! I've included VTT-friendly maps and handouts in separate files to help with running your games virtually because we can't let a simple thing like physical distance prevent us from sharing our stories. I also have a printer friendly version included for those that prefer their works to be printed on the flesh of dead trees. Please see other adventures written for U-Con: The Goat Mayor (by me, Daniel Chapman) is the first introduction to Basht and it's peculiar traditions The Straw Bears (by me, Daniel Chapman) takes place just a few tendays later, describing the strange annual tradition of the procession of Straw Bears The Party that Split (by Daniel Chapman) takes place before Have You No Heart, and sets up the events that lead to Robin Goodman's current situation. Blood and Fog (by Alan Patrick) was the first CCC written for U-Con and the first mention of the Blood Lord. Rescue Down Under (by Alex Lown) continues the story of Basht and revisits the friendly tinkerer Yul Khahan. If you see any errors or have any suggestions, or just wish to retell the tale of how your group went through the story, feel free to contact the author at: http://hoshisabi.com
With your fame building in the Great Plains of Dorack you have received word of an abandoned temple that has been showing signs of life. Years ago the followers of the old deity Sobek built a temple to honor him. The cult died out after a successful raid by Plainsmen who looted the complex after killing off the monks who inhabited it. A few days after the temple sacking the chieftain responsible for the attack fell ill and died of a mysterious disease. As it was believed a curse befell the warlord, the area was abandoned and considered taboo. Lately strange lights have been seen near the old temple and a giant stone alligator has been spotted in the area. The Plainsmen cannot go to the area as the old taboo is still in place and have asked your party to investigate.
In this level 5 adventure for three to five players, a suspicious death brings our adventurers to the village of Degorod on the night of an annual festival. Celebrations turn into chaos as an unknown force abducts villagers from above. The group must investigate the cause and, in the end, decide who to help. Pgs. 101-107
Despite what some may think, those in Zhentil Keep haven't forgotten about their orc troops in Phent. In public discussion in Zhentil Keep, the leaders of the Zhentilar, the military branch of Zhentil Keep, have confidently asserted that the orcs in Thesk are completely loyal to Zhentil Keep. They maintain that the orcs are just biding their time and building up trust among the citizens, until the appointed time when the word is given. In private, these same leaders are gravely concerned. The leaders didn't get to positions of command by being idiots, and they know that the orcs are treated well and accepted in Thesk, which is a rarity for them with the humans and humanoids of Faerûn in general. The leaders know that many of the orcs would be reluctant to destroy the source of this acceptance. But what if the orcs' chief god, Gruumsh, told them to? The Zhentilar turned to the Black Network and presented the problem. The Zhents knew what to do. The Zhents have dispatched a powerful cleric, a master of persuasion and deception, to pose as an orc prophet of Gruumsh and whip the orcs into a destructive frenzy. In addition, the Zhentilar have staged raids against human caravans by what look like orc warriors so that they can start antiorc sentiment among the population of Thesk. Twin Oaks is a tiny, sleepy little thorp located just within the sheltering eaves of a great forest. Home to an extended family clan of farmers and woodcutters, the community was founded within living memory and since its creation the inhabitants have known only peace and prosperity. But just as the gentle breezes of late summer can transform rapidly into the deadly storms of autumn, dark times have come suddenly to Twin Oaks, in the person of Deskryn, a vampire who finds himself on the run from deadly enemies. Just two nights ago, as the good folk of Twin Oaks prepared for the annual harvest, Deskryn’s castle home was invaded by an intrepid band of adventurers led by a noble paladin. Although the party did not achieve its goal of slaying the vampire himself, they managed to drive him from his lair and force him to flee into the night with only the barest fraction of his former resources in tow. Unfortunately for the good folk of Twin Oaks, theirs was the community onto which the 2 vampire stumbled first, and it is here that the fiends have taken refuge. The little settlement offers the displaced vampire all that he needs: shelter from the hateful light of the sun, a selection of new servants, and a supply of fresh mortal blood. Even in his current condition, Deskryn alone is more than a match for the nhabitants of the thorp; but his best hope of survival lies not in conquest, but in secrecy. He plans to hide in Twin Oaks until he believes it safe to leave; then, he can begin plotting his revenge on the hateful paladin and her compatriots who brought him to this lowly state. As for the citizens of the thorp, they are all but helpless in the face of this powerful enemy. The vampire has already slaked his unholy thirst on one of their number, and his minions have taken hostages to ensure that the inhabitants do as they are told. All the folk of Twin Oaks hope that Deskryn will take what he wants and then leave them in peace, but few of them believe that such hopes are realistic. Until Deskryn has satisfied himself that the coast is clear, Twin Oaks—and its people—belong to him.
When the characters set up camp in the forest, they catch the attention of a supernatural evil called the Night Hunter. Can they survive its increasingly audacious attacks and discover the true nature of what is hunting them in the night? This short horror scenario takes about 2 hours to complete and is for four or five 1st-level characters. Download it for free in the YouTube video walkthrough link! Inside the The Night Hunter, you'll find: -A new bogeyman monster tied to local folklore -The Arcane Library's signature format to make running the adventure effortless -Combat cards for monsters, PCs, and special treasure -Beautiful VTT maps with and without grid by Lantern's Light Maps
"Fishing for Gods in Strade's Gallows" is a Dungeons and Dragons 5e module designed for 3-5 players at levels 2-3. This module features NPC dynamics where cordial manners and a polite smile matter just as much as sword-swinging prowess. Original monster entries and dungeon maps can be found in the appendices. A medical shipment to the swampy town of Strade's Gallows takes a turn for the eccentric when the party happens across enigmatic shrimp-men who begin to worship them as gods. Can the party solve the mystery of Strade's Gallows' ailment, or will their new disciples botch it all up? This module includes a list of songs which convey the mood of the setting. They are all online so it's easy to make a playlist.
The ancient dwarven kingdom of wonder and fable is no more! Only the tales of it's grandeur remain to entertain the children, or so you thought. Then you met Nimron. Distraught and desperate, you alone can pass the gates sealed so long ago. Within are the lairs of bandits, cutthroats, and worse. The evil that destroyed the dwarven home - the Halls of Paradise - is awakened again. Into this horror ventured the dwarven princess Grona Marblefist to reclaim her kingdom. She, like so many others, has not returned. Now you must face this peril alone. Thunderdelve Mountain is a solitaire adventure for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Expert game. Players who don't wish to face the fallen Halls of Paradise alone may also use this adventure for group play. TSR 9157
The idyllic town of Evershade is about to get a lot less peaceful. Nestled in a small valley near the border of two kingdoms, Evershade is a small but prosperous town. But ranchers have been finding their livestock slaughtered, with no idea what's behind it. What begins as a simple mission to scare off a predator, turns into a race across hills and mountains to prevent agents of evil from destroying a future force for good. Includes A adventure for 4-5 characters of 3rd to 4th level A regional map of the areas surrounding the town of Evershade Descriptions of the town of Evershade and several of the notable NPCs that live there A map of the dragon's lair on a cliff near the sea Stat blocks for all monsters Unnumbered map suitable for use in your favorite VTT Published by Goblin Scrawl Games