For centuries, Aelmor Monastery near the port town of Sestone was a safe haven for scholars, monks, and pilgrims seeking enlightenment, its renowned library home to an enormous collection of ancient manuscripts, tomes, and peculiar writings. After suffering a devastating attack at the hands of a possessed monastery elder, Aelmor fell into ruin, its troubled past forgotten. When villagers start disappearing and turn up horribly mutated days later, fear takes a grip of Sestone. What sinister forces are at work? And to what end? The Claws of Madness is a standalone adventure carefully designed for a group of 1st-level heroes, including new monsters, magic items, and a thrilling story arc. Edited by Michele Carter (co-editor of the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook), this dungeon crawl combines the best elements of classic adventures with fresh new exciting avenues. The story in this book also provides the perfect base for an epic, long-running campaign suitable for higher-level characters, in which the heroes unravel the dark mystery of the mythical Hand of Narkul . . . Published by LoreSmyth SmiteWorks.
Desolate and abandoned, the evil alchemist's mansion stands alone on the cliff, looking out towards the sea. Mysterious lights and ghostly hauntings have kept away the people of Saltmarsh, despite rumors of a fabulous, forgotten treasure. What is its sinister secret. Made for 5-10 character of levels 1-3, contains maps, handouts and encounter descriptions. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is the first installment in a series of three modules designed and developed in the United Kingdom for beginning adventures with the AD&D rules. TSR 9062
Things are darkest before they go totally black. He wears black, hires orcs, and looks depraved - but don't be fooled. He's far more dangerous than he seems. Thaddigren Dentiata recently arrived in the village of Sisak, and within 3 months had constructed a great tower on the outskirts. The villagers have become more wary of him, since he employs the help of orc henchment (albeit polite ones), and also is suspected of using dark magic. Since then, livestock has begun disappearing from the surrounding pastures, and two drunk men fell upon a terrible fate when they went to investigate the tower secretly. One was killed and the other remains missing. The villagers have confronted Dentiata, but he and his henchmen politely turned aside their questioning. The players arrive just after one of the town elders was taken by orcs from the village after trying in vain to rally the rest of the townspeople. The players will spend some time in the village gathering information and then attack the tower itself, ending in a final battle with the evil wizard. The module provides details on all buildings in the town as well as all NPCs and stores. Pgs. 6-24
Greger’s Grotto is a community of pirates and other criminals, hidden away on a desolate coastline. The players are slaves sold to the Grotto’s owning family and used for manual labour and bloodsport in the arena. In this adventure, the players will need to: * survive harsh prison conditions, including the rivalry between prisoner factions: human, orc, goblin and hobgoblin * fight in arena battles against prisoners and beasts, often with strange twists to entertain the crowd * explore small mini-dungeons attached to the prisoners’ caverns * ultimately escape; whether by force, alliance with fellow prisoners, stealth, cunning or any combination of these Features of this adventure: * Pay-what-you-want (even nothing). * Illustrated with art by Setvasai. * Designed to fit into most campaign worlds. * Simulationist or story-driven: includes information for both. Use random rolls to determine what happens when, or take inspiration from various story hooks. (Or do both.) * 11 unique NPCs, including members of the Grotto’s owning family and leader of the prisoner factions. * Full maps of the Grotto, its arena and prisoner caverns, totalling over 40 rooms.
Legends tell of a wizard so arrogant that he felt the entire sky was naught but a lens for him to view the stars. So great was the hubris and defiance of this man that the gods smote him with the power of storm and fire. Oh did the wizard laugh at such a pathetic gesture. He did not fear the gods, for he drew his knowledge from something greater. Something darker. The legend of this wizard grew, first whispered by men in fear, and later in awe. The wizard, they said, attacked the gods just as they had attacked him. And his joy only grew as the land around him died. But then there was no more news. No more talk. Something had finally brought the wizard low, for though the sky still blazed down on him and his abode, he no longer blazed back. And now you’re going to walk right through this wizard’s front door.
Awash in a sea of phlogiston, three wizards battle for mastery of reality! But with each new day all gains are lost and the game begins anew. It is up to the adventurers to upset this ancient balance, winning free of the shrinking demi-plane before all is reduced to the roiling stuff of raw Chaos! Will you strike a bargain, swearing fealty to one of the fell masters? Or will you attempt to master your own fate, pitting your luck and skill against arcane foes? Whatever you decide, you must act quickly, for gray worms press in from all sides and time grows short! An exploration-based adventure for 2nd level PCs, Fate's Fell Hand challenges new and old players alike. Only the most cunning of PCs can hope to thwart the machinations of three dire wizards and escape Fate's Fell Hand!
The lizard men are just pining for the fjords. A plague of locusts is bad enough, but when the locusts are each a yard long, the farmers need professional help! A swarm of giant locusts has been eating all the grapes and leaves from the vineyards of Vineyard Vale! In addition, lizard folk have attacked and destroyed several steads in the vale. The farmers are desperate, but what they don't know is that these events are linked! A mage known as Rhungold the Trickster has been orchestrating the attacks and locusts to try to scare the farmers off the land so he can claim it as his own. The players slowly piece the story together by investigating a fairly linear story through a cave, a marsh, and finally to a compound owned by the wizard Rhungold. Pgs. 6-16
This adventure is about a quest to save a city that disappear underneath there feet in a power play by a wizard from another plane. The previous ruling wizards are trapped in magic coins scattered nearby and help defeat the evil wizard on an inverse material plane and end with the players going into the middle of a sun to convince the ruling fire elemental to give the city back. TSR 9204
Sent on a desperate mission into an unknown land, you must seek out the one called "the Master" and his Temple of Death. There is little time to waste, as you must act before the Master's armies destroy your homelands. But to complete your task, you must battle fearsome guardians, travel through a hostile kingdom, and discover the secret of the master. Can you survive his defenses and win? This module contains referee's notes, background, maps and detailed keys. It is the second adventure in the two-part Desert Nomads series begun in X4, Master of the Desert Nomads, but it can stand on its own as a seperate adventure. Wheter you play Temple of Death by itself or as part of a series, the adventure will offer you hours of excitement and fun! TSR 9069
An interesting and atypical adventure in its writing style. For one the module contains insightful "When things go Wrong" sections and DM guidance for sticking close enough to the rails for the story and fun's sake. Lots of DM hints about how to handle PCs' choices. Overall the story is fine too - a traditional hook, a mystery, some twists. There's a tower, a surprise pocket-dimension context, and a dungeon. It's mirror of life trapping, isn't it? Well, yes and no. People go in, and they don't come out. Nor can you talk with anyone inside. Somehow, that's not quite the way you remember those mirrors work. This Skarda fellow showed up a few years ago with a band of raiders, and no one in the land has been safe since then. Whole villages have disappeared into this Skarda's mirror. Your band is approached by relatives of one of the victims?and adventurer like yourselves. You have to get into that mirror of whatever-it-is, find this man, and get him out in one piece. The reward is more that adequate. Only problem is, no one out here can tell you what to expect once you get in? or even how to get there. TSR 9188
Far below the Fields of Petrichor is a vast cavern containing the skeletal remains of a long-dead Sonorous Titan, a whale-like beast that once floated through the skies of a lost age. Amongst the bones are ravines and grottos home to bizarre creatures and lost treasures that are as beautiful and valuable as they are deadly. Ghostly shapes swim through the air. Glowing mushroom groves hide frightened creatures. And the Titan’s bones sing sadly as an ambitious wizard and his weary hirelings dig for its precious marrow... ADVENTURE TYPE: Small Sandbox Dungeon DESIGN NOTES: This adventure is intended for characters levels 5 to 8. It includes several wilderness areas, a ruined village and a mining camp to explore. Each area contains various encounters and unique magical items.There are many opportunities for combat, but it is possible for players to explore most areas and complete many interactions without any combat at all, depending on their choices. INCLUDES: Story hooks, dialogue prompts, creature stat blocks, original creatures and treasures, and dungeon overview map. KEYWORDS: Grave, skeleton, ghost, undead, wizard, miner, puzzle, mushroom, myconid, hag, witch, social, curse, mutation, mutant, soul, insect, termite, scorpion, bat, monk, beetle, chicken
Doomguard factioneers steal an ancient relic from the church of Fharlanghan as part of an apocalyptic plot involving the Harbinger House, and a group of Clueless adventurers chase them into Sigil on their quest to recover it. Celestian's Compass is a free one-shot adventure that was released for Free RPG Day 2017.
Break in. Do the job. Survive the fallout. In a city so vast as Pindus-on-Isles, if you want to get ahead, you need to cozy up with someone powerful. And do something dangerous. When Hope the Fixer shows up at your door with a job from an anonymous employer, the pay is good enough. Are you? Seems there’s a thief holed up in a Wizard’s Egg, a stone laboratory suspended high on a tower. The anonymous employer wants the stolen goods trashed. It’s in Lightmill though. Those glittering skyscrapers are no place for basegels like you. Get your disguise together. Hope’s got the hippogriffs. It’s destruction time.
Long hidden away in remote vaults and guarded by powerful wards, the ancient Seven Swords of Sin have been stolen and brought together again for a terrible cause. Seven Swords of Sin is a lethal adventure that pits players against a vile enchantress, Tirana, in a trap-laden and monster-guarded dungeon. Only the brave (and perhaps foolish) can survive Tirana's lair and rescue the fabled Seven Swords of Sin from her heinous plot to unlock their deadly powers.
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.
Freak show or sanctuary? It's all a matter of perspective when you're at Carnival. A carnival offers a glimpse of abnormal and unnatural things most genteel folk never talk about, much less see. This carnival is not a simple sideshow, though, and its performers are far more than freaks on display. Carnival is a wandering haven for those who have no place else to go - including adventurers who made enemies of the wrong people. Under the protection of its mysterious mistress Isolde, it offers refuge to those rejected by the world. Outcasts and lost souls of all kinds can find solace here, and sometimes even a second chance at life... but nothing at Carnival comes without a price. TSR 11382
Somewhere in the heart of the steaming jungle lies the answer to the whispered tales - rumors of a magnificent city and foul, horrid rituals! Here a brave party might find riches and wonders - or death! Is your party brave enough to face the terrors of the unknown and find the Forbidden City! TSR 9046
Surviving the shipwreck is easy; living through the wizardly bet afterward is not. Their game could mean your lives. A storm caused the PCs' vessel to sink and is now forcing them to seek shelter in the keep on the remote isle. Their goal is to locate a boat or some other means of transportation to return to the mainland after the storm has passed. But first, they must survive the tests and traps the island's inhabitants have set for them. Pgs. 45-64
Task for the Tyrants is an intrigue and exploration adventure for a party of 6th level characters. It takes place in the city of Sharn (Eberron), but can be easily adapted to fit any large city in the Eberron setting. A simple reclamation job sends the characters racing across Sharn, from its steam-ridden depths to the operatic splendour of its tallest spires. The characters soon find themselves caught in the midst of a power struggle between the Tyrants, a rogue changeling revolutionary, and the nefarious forces plotting to cast Khorvaire into eternal night: the Dreaming Dark. Will the party reclaim and return the Tyrants’ package, or will they keep it for themselves? In this adventure, you will find: - 22 pages of high-stakes content - 7 to 8 hours of gameplay - A heist on a warehouse filled with goblins and volatile magic - Intriguing side-events to flesh out Sharn - A deal with the Spider, which might cost the players more than just gold…
Venture-Captain Juberto Savarre plans to retire soon, and he’s set his sights on spooky Dralkard Manor in southern Andoran. With the locals swapping tales of hauntings and missing persons, Savarre sends Pathfinders in to uncover the truth. Are the stories just tall tales or will the Pathfinders find themselves drenched in blood at Dralkard Manor?