Guilds Town is in the middle of Dravens, a province of the realm of Shrave. 50 years ago, the neighboring dwarven province of Kiernard rebelled and tried to overthrow the green dragon Shrave who rules the realm. They failed and their province was dissolved. Dwarves who left the province mostly fled to Dravens, and are called Nards as both a racial slur and a stigma of their people’s dishonor. Guilds Town are the ones really in control of the province and are the current opposition of the Dravens nobility. In recent times, corruption and crime in the city have risen to new heights as 4 cults compete for control of the city and their citizens. Published by NaturalCrit

The seaside town of Ashenport has a troubled past and a dark secret. If you spend a night in Ashenport, you just might not wake up the next morning. "The Last Breaths of Ashenport" is an adventure of survival and alien horrors. The adventure is self-contained and can be placed in any setting. Pgs. 70-105

From the magazine: "'That's right," said the druid. "You must steal the giant's cauldron - without harming him in the slightest.'" The adventurers are sent on a mission to reclaim the legendary Cauldron of Plenty for a celtic inspired kingdom. This magic item is kept by an intelligent Verbeeg called the Bolg Mor. A secondary goal is to discover the command words for the cauldron in the cave system. There is a curse on the cauldron, stating that violence breeds violence; he who slays the owner of the cauldron and steals the device will also fall prey to acts of violence. Players are encouraged to attempt to roleplay and negotiate with the villain to gain the cauldron.

There have been disturbing signs over the last few months, signalling that something is wrong in Humblewood. The troubles appear to originate from activity in the Scorched Grove, an ashen plain that was ravaged many centuries ago by a destructive fire. Whatever caused the fire has scarred the land with elemental magic, making it inhospitable to all but strange fire-based creatures. Of late, the Grove has begun to expand. At first, it was hard to notice the slow expansion, but those in tune with nature (especially the Tenders) could see the imbalance in the elemental forces of Humblewood. For many common folk, this imbalance has been experienced as unseasonal dryness, which has led to crop failure and an increased frequency of forest fires. There have also been a number of unusually aggressive emberbat clouds reported far outside of their natural ranges. The true nature of the danger still remains hidden from the people of the Wood. A corvum necromancer named Odwald Ebonhart has stirred the elemental aspect of fire, which has lain dormant beneath the Scorched Grove since its first burning. The aspect’s energies have begun to empower fire-based creatures within the Wood. The increased range of emberbat swarms have brought fires that have expanded the Grove. Many forest-dwellers, who have been left without homes, have turned to banditry to survive. Soon the elemental incarnation will break free, and players must find a way to stop the aspect of fire before it reduces the Wood to ashes.

A member of your gang awakens in an alleyway with foggy memories of a deal made, a job taken, a partner slain, and a heist planned. They struggle to remember the details, but you all agree that breaking into an abandoned temple should be a simple matter – in and out. Yet the heist is on a collision course with something sinister. What begins as an easy job becomes anything but, as you confront cultists, vengeful spirits, and the servitors of a long-forgotten god. While seeking an easy score, you uncover a plan to strike a blow into the heart of Lankhmar, and no one is safe from the blasphemous plot. A choice needs to be made. Will you stand with the city, or risk letting it descend into chaos? Curse the gods of Lankhmar for their cruel joke that, in the shadowed alleyways of Lankhmar, there is no such thing as a “simple matter.” Officially licensed from the estate of Fritz Leiber.

The Legend of the Black Monastery Two centuries have passed since the terrible events associated with the hideous cult known as the Black Brotherhood. Only scholars and story-tellers remember now how the kingdom was nearly laid to waste and the Black Monastery rose to grandeur and fell into haunted ruins. The Brothers first appeared as an order of benevolent priests and humble monks in black robes who followed a creed of kindness to the poor and service to the kingdom. Their rules called for humility and self denial. Other religious orders had no quarrel with their theology or their behavior. Their ranks grew as many commoners and nobles were drawn to the order by its good reputation. The first headquarters for the order was a campsite, located in a forest near the edge of the realm. The Brothers said that their poverty and dedication to service allowed them no resources for more grand accommodations. Members of the Black Brotherhood built chapels in caves or constructed small temples on common land near villages. They said that these rustic shrines allowed them to be near the people they served. Services held by the Brothers at these locations attracted large numbers of common people, who supported the Black Brotherhood with alms. Within 50 years of their first appearance, the Black Brotherhood had a number of larger temples and abbeys around the kingdom. Wealthy patrons endowed them with lands and buildings in order to buy favor and further the work of the Brothers. The lands they gained were slowly expanded as the order’s influence grew. Many merchants willed part of their fortunes to the Black Brotherhood, allowing the order to expand their work even further. The Brothers became bankers, loaning money and becoming partners in trade throughout the kingdom. Within 200 years of their founding, the order was wealthy and influential, with chapters throughout the kingdom and spreading into nearby realms. With their order well-established, the Black Brotherhood received royal permission to build a grand monastery in the hill country north of the kingdom’s center. Their abbot, a cousin of the king, asked for the royal grant of a specific hilltop called the Hill of Mornay. This hill was already crowned by ancient ruins that the monks proposed to clear away. Because it was land not wanted for agriculture, the king was happy to grant the request. He even donated money to build the monastery and encouraged others to contribute. With funds from around the realm, the Brothers completed their new monastery within a decade. It was a grand, sprawling edifice built of black stone and called the Black Monastery. From the very beginning, there were some who said that the Black Brotherhood was not what it seemed. There were always hints of corruption and moral lapses among the Brothers, but no more than any other religious order. There were some who told stories of greed, gluttony and depravity among the monks, but these tales did not weaken the order’s reputation during their early years. All of that changed with the construction of the Black Monastery. Within two decades of the Black Monastery’s completion, locals began to speak of troubling events there. Sometimes, Brothers made strange demands. They began to cheat farmers of their crops. They loaned money at ruinous rates, taking the property of anyone who could not pay. They pressured or even threatened wealthy patrons, extorting money in larger and larger amounts. Everywhere, the Black Brotherhood grew stronger, prouder and more aggressive. And there was more… People began to disappear. The farmers who worked the monastery lands reported that some people who went out at night, or who went off by themselves, did not return. It started with individuals…people without influential families…but soon the terror and loss spread to even to noble households. Some said that the people who disappeared had been taken into the Black Monastery, and the place slowly gained an evil reputation. Tenant farmers began moving away from the region, seeking safety at the loss of their fields. Slowly, even the king began to sense that the night was full of new terrors. Across the kingdom, reports began to come in telling of hauntings and the depredations of monsters. Flocks of dead birds fell from clear skies, onto villages and city streets. Fish died by thousands in their streams. Citizens reported stillborn babies and monstrous births. Crops failed. Fields were full of stunted plants. Crimes of all types grew common as incidents of madness spread everywhere. Word spread that the center of these dark portents was the Black Monastery, where many said the brothers practiced necromancy and human sacrifice. It was feared that the Black Brotherhood no longer worshipped gods of light and had turned to the service of the Dark God. These terrors came to a head when the Black Brotherhood dared to threaten the king himself. Realizing his peril, the king moved to dispossess and disband the Black Brother hood. He ordered their shrines, abbeys and lands seized. He had Brothers arrested for real and imagined crimes. He also ordered investigations into the Black Monastery and the order’s highest ranking members. The Black Brotherhood did not go quietly. Conflict between the order and the crown broke into violence when the Brothers incited their followers to riot across the kingdom. There were disturbances everywhere, including several attempts to assassinate the king by blades and by dark sorcery. It became clear to everyone that the Black Brotherhood was far more than just another religious order. Once knives were drawn, the conflict grew into open war between the crown and the Brothers. The Black Brotherhood had exceeded their grasp. Their followers were crushed in the streets by mounted knights. Brothers were rounded up and arrested. Many of them were executed. Armed supporters of the Black Brotherhood, backed by arcane and divine magic, were defeated and slaughtered. The Brothers were driven back to their final hilltop fortress – the Black Monastery. They were besieged by the king’s army, trapped and waiting for the king’s forces to break in and end the war. The final assault on the Black Monastery ended in victory and disaster. The king’s army took the hilltop, driving the last of the black-robed monks into the monastery itself. The soldiers were met by more than just men. There were monsters and fiends defending the monastery. There was a terrible slaughter on both sides. In many places the dead rose up to fight again. The battle continued from afternoon into night, lit by flames and magical energy. The Black Monastery was never actually taken. The king’s forces drove the last of their foul enemies back inside the monastery gates. Battering rams and war machines were hauled up the hill to crush their way inside. But before the king’s men could take the final stronghold, the Black Brotherhood immolated themselves in magical fire. Green flames roared up from the monastery, engulfing many of the king’s men as well. As survivors watched, the Black Monastery burned away, stones, gates, towers and all. There was a lurid green flare that lit the countryside. There was a scream of torment from a thousand human voices. There was a roar of falling masonry and splitting wood. Smoke and dust obscured the hilltop. The Black Monastery collapsed in upon itself and disappeared. Only ashes drifted down where the great structure had stood. All that was left of the Black Monastery was its foundations and debris-choked dungeons cut into the stones beneath. The war was over. The Black Brotherhood was destroyed. But the Black Monastery was not gone forever. Over nearly two centuries since its destruction, the Black Monastery has returned from time to time to haunt the Hill of Mornay. Impossible as it seems, there have been at least five incidents in which witnesses have reported finding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread reports of madness, crime and social unrest in the kingdom. Sometimes, the monastery has appeared only for a night. The last two times, the monastery reappeared atop the hill for as long as three months…each appearance longer than the first. There are tales of adventurers daring to enter the Black Monastery. Some went to look for treasure. Others went to battle whatever evil still lived inside. There are stories of lucky and brave explorers who have survived the horrors, returning with riches from the fabled hordes of the Black Brotherhood. It is enough to drive men mad with greed – enough to lure more each time to dare to enter the Black Monastery.

D&D’s latest book contains thirteen exhilarating heist-themed adventures, where you and your crew will take on missions from a mysterious organization known as the Golden Vault. Thirteen new stand-alone adventures spanning levels 1 to 11, each focused on a single heist.

A short adventure for the Midnight campaign setting from Fantasy Flight Games. Harried by pursuing Shadow forces, the adventurers take refuge in the fissures of a vast glacier. In these icy caverns they battle the risen remains of an orc tribe and make contact with a powerful potential ally.

An adventure for the world’s most dangerous role-playing game, Draw Steel! Designed for a group of five 3rd-level heroes. An elementalist’s experimentations have disrupted the chrono-stasis seal on an ancient tomb containing a cadre of time raiders. Freed from their temporal prison, these visitors from the Sea of Stars now gather to plan their revenge—defeat them before they regain their strength! Dive into this adventure inspired by the actual tombs of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to discover 5 unique treasures, several strange crystalline substances, 2 new kits, and 2 new monsters!

Sewers of the Underguild is an adventure designed for characters of at least 11th level, and characters up to 15th level will find plenty of challenges. Hidden within these narrow passages and filth-filled channels is a guild of vampiric rogues, led by their master Sangre and his aide, a nycaloth called Ankoz. Deadly traps abound, so a skillful rogue will be a lifesaver. Because of the high likelihood of desperate combat with numerous vampiric and monstrous opponents, it is suggested that a cleric and at least two fighters be prepared to beat back the many watchdog monsters the guild employs. You can hide the locales in Sewers of the Underguild in any ruin or location that fits your campaign purposes. A thriving metropolis that just happens to have a large crime and vampire problem would fit the bill nicely. In the Lost Lands campaign setting of Frog God Games, the Underguild is located in the sewers beneath the ruins of Curgantium, the ancient imperial capital of lost Hyperboria. Located at the edge of the modern Kingdom of Foere, the Underguild still finds itself located centrally enough to pull the strings of its weblike network running throughout the former lands of the Hyperborian Empire.

Brambletoe Hall has ever been deep, warm and filled with mirth. Here, the good mayor Willie Brambletoe has long presided over a board of warm mutton, fresh apples, berries, peaches and the like, as well as wondrous breads, warm butter and cool drink. Mayor Willie invites all, inviting may various and sundry folks to sit and eat with him, or to gather about his great hall and make merry, pass the time and exchange news of distant happenings in exotic lands. But something has changed in that noble Halfling's Halls and a Shadow of Evil has taken up abode there. Not many days past, in those deep hours before the dawn, the sounds of merriment changed to cries of despair. A haunting came to the Good man's home and left an air filled with the noise of terror and a foul odor of unrepentant evil. Abandoned now, a shadow has hung over the hall ever since. Foul play or murder, none knew. But the Shadow of Fear has spread, stalking the environs of Newbriar. And the locals now say Newbriar has come at last to know the shallow welcome of the other world. In fear, the folk of Newbriar have called for aid, sending riders forth to find courageous heroes willing to rid the town and its sufferages of the terror of the Shadows of the Halfling Hall.

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, Matron Maelora best beware; her plans for total domination of the Underworld are already close to satisfactory completion, while attacks on the Upperworld have become increasingly successful. The other power-hungry drow families of Holoth may despise her but they know a true leader when they see one, and House Gullion has been revealed as the family to lead them all on the path to glory. With the entire Underworld in chaos and the Spider Goddess regularly communing with her chosen Matron, far greater dreams than mere regional conquest are within the grasp of the drow, as Maelora prepares her grand dark elf army for victory! With other mystical allies standing firm with the Matron, other Underworld races beneath her heel or cowering behind fortified walls, and every drow ready to play their part when she gives the word, what could possibly stop her from achieving her final triumph and fulfilling her destiny? But even the greatest of plans has a flaw if you look hard enough, and a party of stout heart and strong resolve can make a difference. At first, such a party may well believe it is on a smaller adventure, perhaps to win a few baubles or some small acclaim by rescuing a few kidnapped villagers. Soon, however, those adventurers will realise that much more is at stake, and that they are the ones who will need to make moves against the evil Matron Maelora and her increasing dominance if both the entire Underworld and Upperworld are to be saved. But how will they go about it? Can they ensure their own success when an entire city is standing against them? Only they have the chance to halt the Rise of the Drow! Published by AAW Games.

The set-up is interesting in a way – the PCs are plain folks of the Vale, everyday people, and the module begins promising, with the Thor-ordained sporty trek around the vale that inevitably results in trouble. The module, obviously, tries to chronicle the step from everyday-Joe/Jane to hero and the tidbits on culture provided are intriguing. But this, as much as I’m loathe to say it, is one of the worst modules FGG has ever released. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t expect Mr. Ward’s pen at work here. Let me elaborate: The premise, is unique and hasn’t been done much recently, but it suffers from this being an adventure – to properly invest the players in the setting a closer gazetteer, nomenclature, suggested roles and origins for casting talent – all of that should have been covered. They’re not. Worse, everything here is a) clichéd and b) a non-threat in the great whole of things.

Ancient port city on the edge of a desert. The city is stratified by social class and some of the slaves have formed a cannibal cult to Kthulhu. City + hexcrawl + dungeon. The Anthropophagi of Xambaala™ takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is inspired by Robert E. Howard’s “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula” and by various short tales of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. It is designed for use with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea ™(AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™. This work is both a setting and an adventure. The setting describes the town of Xambaala, noting key people, locations, and local lore. The adventure proper provides players with a variety of environments and the several factions fighting over them for their own goals. With a bit of skill and luck, stalwart adventurers may emerge richer and maybe wiser. The situation that will develop in Xambaala will be determined by the players’ choices.

"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.

You are aromantic, and your best friend is aromantic. There’s only one thing to do: go and fight a dragon. Two Aromantics Spend an Entire Day Doing Everything Except Experiencing Romantic Attraction is an unapologetically no-romo single-player adventure for a level 4 character. It should run for approximately 3-5 hours. This adventure requires at least some knowledge as to what it means to be aromantic. There are many useful resources available online for those unfamiliar with this term.

During the Last War, the ancients deployed their war-skiff assault units from elevator platforms that now dot a sector of the wasteland like a ravaged forest of rusted steel stumps. Most of the platforms are buried by the shifting sands or stand as shattered reminders of a war that was once meaningful, but one of these decaying steel stumps still remains partially energized, layered with tunnels below ground, and powered by a unique extra-dimensional reactor core beneath the surface of the planet.

A short adventure for the Midnight campaign setting from Fantasy Flight Games. The adventurers must contact a recently-captured resistance fighter to uncover the identity of a traitor.

After turning himself into a manticore, the self-style wizard-artiste, Mortzengersturm, moved to the crystalline peak of Mount Geegaw to practice his transformation magic without interference. You've been hired to snatch his most prized artifact, the Whim-Wham Stone--or at least some of its eldritch light. A menagerie of magic hybrids, a self-absorbed vampire, more than a few hippogriffs, and of course, the mad manticore himself await! It's like a Rankin-Bass stop motion special--except it could end in a total party kill.

Built high on cliffs overlooking the confluence of two rivers, Gurthap Keep was a bastion of strength and a haven for the Cult of the Red God. Here, priests of old sacrificed over the tomb of long dead Kha M Thir, honoring him for his long service to the Red God. They added bastions to the keep, walls, a temple and barracks. From there they terrorized the surrounding country, raiding the villages of Alice, Greenbriar and Ends Meet until at last the rangers gathered against the Cult and overthrew it. They drove them from their walls and those they did not slay, fled into the Darkenfold to the south. The castle has sat thus ever since, a grim testament to the gods of the old world. The forest has consumed it and only the memories of men keep it alive. But within its abandoned walls lie the shadows of yesteryear. For the tomb of Kah M Thir was never found and the secrets of the priests of the Red God never fully revealed.