For the past several days, dozens of strong earthquakes have rocked the coastal area surrounding the underground Temple of Poseidon. Since the first quake, there have been a growing number of reports of strange events and macabre occurrences throughout the area. Several families near the temple have abandoned their farms and refused to return. They claim to have been terrorized by inhuman specters who prowled about their farms late at night. One of the farmers says he found a farm animal crucified and eviscerated in a ritualistic fashion on his front porch. Following the first tremors, all communications with the Temple of Poseidon, seemingly the center of the troubled area, were cut off. Messengers dispatched to the temple to request guidance from the Holy Oracle located there have not returned. Now the darkness has spread to this town. Unnatural births have occurred. Strange cries can be heard in the night, and there is a cowl around the moon. Magical divining has proven useless in naming the dark forces that invade. Many of the townspeople have already abandoned their homes and those who remain have but one recourse left: They have sent out a cry for hardened adventurers, experienced in dispatching evil. They must travel to the temple to discover the fate of the men there, and, if possible, elicit their help in destroying the growing heinous power. Pgs. 31-46
Few planes possess the raw malevolence of the Infinite Layers of the Abyss. It is a place of random violence, appalling cruelty, and pure, unadulterated wickedness. Here, unreasoning malice rules, and countless demons torture and murder for the joy of it. The Abyss is innovative in its wretchedness, with each fleeting moment birthing new and awful psychotic acts of utter evil. Those who brave its depths find no relief from its corrosive nature, nor respite from the cancerous seeds of evil blooming within all who tarry here; they find only anguish, pain and if they're lucky, sudden, abrupt death. "Into the Maw" is the ninth chapter of 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 #356 of Dragon magazine features an expanded list of strange and exotic magical items that could be purchased from the mercane merchants encountered during "Into the Maw." In order to rescue a friend, the PCs must sail into the Abyss and infiltrate a prison built by the Prince of Demons. Pgs. 48-85
"Terror by night! The village of Orlane is dying. Once a small and thriving community, Orlane has become a maze of locked doors and frightened faces. Strangers are shunned, trade has withered. Rumors flourish, growing wilder with each retelling. Terrified peasants flee their homes, abandoning their farms with no explanation. Others simply disappear. . . No one seems to know the cause of the decay -- why are there no clues? Who skulks through the twisted shadows of the night? Who or what is behind the doom that has overtaken the village? It will take a brave and skillful band of adventurers to solve the dark riddle of Orlane!" TSR 9063
The PCs must infiltrate a city ruled by monsters to search for the spymaster that holds the key to saving a besiged nation. Pgs. 26-50
Abandon hope early and avoid the rush. A rebel leader is locked in a prison from which there is no escape. That's why the rebels called for you. The players are recruited to help rescue a prisoner of the Theocracy. The prison is very unique in that the cells are situated in a wheel formation. The prisoners are forced to push against their cell walls every day until after 1 full year (1 full rotation of the wheel), an opening appears in their cell and they are free to leave. There are many paths to success in this adventure, and it can play out more like a heist rather than a dungeon crawl. Pgs. 24-37
It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids. But beware, hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again! First part of Scourge of the Slave Lords (A1–4) TSR 9039
Two common elements mixed together create deadly peril. The last dungeon that many heroes will ever see. This dungeon crawl was based on the original S1 Tomb of Horrors. This is not an adventure for neophyte adventurers. Many traps, puzzles, and monsters exist to kill the party. However, the treasure of the mud sorcerers may be too tempting to pass by! Pgs. 50-70
"Deeptown lies in the shadow of mountains, a town where anything is for sale if you can only meet the price. But in the wild surrounding valleys of the Deeps, it's the bandits who make the darkest deals - and their ambition comes at a cost far greater than the contents of any wayward caravan. You and your team have just been handed a new job: disrupt a meeting between a bandit lord and his mysterious new allies. At a remote mountain villa, you will strike hard and fast and leave terror in your wake. They give you the tools. You provide the talent. Survive, and you'll be well rewarded. Fail, and you'll pay the price. You've got three days to raise some hell." This was one of the first third party adventures under the OGL for 3rd edition published by Atlas Games under the Penumbra line. The attack on the mansion is not a dungeon crawl, but feels like a commando raid aided by some unique magic items.
Within an ancient necropolis a pool of alien slime grasps the minds and bodies of the people of Exag with wispy tendrils of madness. Those transformed by its power invariably seek the crypt, but what fell power draws them there? Part two of the Seeds of Sehan campaign arc. Pgs. 26-41
Years ago the valley was green, and animals ran free through golden fields of grain. The princess Argenta ruled over this peaceful land and the people were secure and happy. Then one day a warrior riding a red dragon appeared in the skies over the princess’ castle and almost overnight the tiny kingdom fell into ruin. Now only ruins and rumors remain, and what legends there are tell of a fabulous ruby still buried somewhere within the Palace of the Silver Princess TSR 9044
A handful of would-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, an era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom. "The Whispering Cairn" is the first installment of the Age of Worms Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures, several "Backdrop" articles to help Dungeon masters run the series, and a handful of poster maps of key locations. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Worm Food" articles, a series that provides additional materials to help players survive this campaign. Pgs. 14-47
Sinister Forces Terrorize a Town The town of Brindinford is in the midst of its annual street fair. Joy and merriment abound - until calamity disrupts the celebration. Are rival gangs responsible? Is the government sliding into tyranny? Or is a nightmarish plot about to come to fruition? "The Speaker in Dreams" is a stand-alone adventure for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. Player characters are in for a wild ride in this river town. Leave the dungeon behind: the terrors lurking in Brindinford are more challenging by far! In The Speaker in Dreams, the town of Brindinford is besieged by evil forces under the command of Ghaerleth Axom. A street fair is interrupted by an attack, which serves as a distraction for the villain's forces to attack the keep of the local baron. This provides an entry point for the player characters into the main quest to discover the secret alliances trying to take over the town. The Speaker in Dreams is an event-based, rather than site-based, adventure.
Looks can lie as well as words. Magical minotaurs? Mutant giants? Vampires? One or more of these is preying upon the caravans, and you're going to stop them. A band of ogre magi took over an abandoned dwarven stronghold and have started ambushing merchant caravans. Their leader, Krugii, wants to gain enough power to eventually control a kingdom. In his quest for power, he has bonded a young bronze dragon and has accelerated its growth. The ogre mages all have different personalities and different forms that they prefer to polymorph into. The PCs are hired to take a caravan through Deception Pass and protect it against the random monsters that have been marauding lately (actually ogre mages in disguise). After protecting the caravan, the players track the attacks back to the stronghold of the ogre magi and clear it out. Pgs. 40-62
The adventure takes players from a town devastated by an unexpected flood, through a drowned land where nature is turned upside down and desperate families cling to the roofs of their ruined homes, hiding from the monstrous products of a disordered world, through the strange tomb of an ancient race, to a profundal zone, hidden for millennia and now exposed, and finally to the Observatory itself, an eerie abandoned treasure palace, where they will encounter a pale and unexpected terror which will seek to claim their lives. The adventure is suitable for a lucky mid-range party, a stupid high-level party or an exceedingly clever low level party. It is difficult, with a meaningful possibility of character death. Should you find them, and defeat their guardians, the treasures of an ancient culture will be yours. At the final point of the Observatory is a glimpse of another world. Published by False Machine Publishing
"The creatures are just too intelligent, too crafty, and too strategy-minded to "rampage." Rampaging brings the wrath of oath-bound knights, powerful mages, and divinely-protected priests. Why would a dragon want such attention, unless it had some special secret, or unless it was insane? Or both. The northern reaches of the Derideth Swamp were once plagued by a rampaging dragon. This black dragon, named Storamere, took a mad glee in attacking human villages, wiping out orc camps, driving off the lizardfolk, and decimating farmland. He met his untimely end, though, in an ambush devised by the monks of the Order of St. Chausle. Storamere died with a curse upon his draconic tongue: "you could not have defeated me in my lair," he told his slayers. "I am forever invincible in my lair." Now Storamere is back, with a horde of his misshapen half-dragon offspring, to have his vengeance. All that remains of the once-heroic monks are two old men driven mad by their last encounter with the black dragon, so it falls to a band of adventurers to again defeat the mighty dragon -- this time in his palace, where the boastful Storamere claims he is at his strongest." Includes maps and damage rules for navigating Storamere's lair, a semi-solid palace made of a dangerous, corrosive liquid five feet thick and located on the ethereal plane. Most of the monsters in the lair have the Half-Dragon template applied. Published by Atlas Games
Centuries ago, two rival thieves' guilds crafted a number of intelligent weapons to aid them in their conflicts. Although the guilds are now long dead, their weapons remain, and have begun to recruit new soldiers from the people of Sasserine. Can your PCs put an end to this deathless war?
Who Do You Trust? In the cool streets and blazing bazaars, the word is out: a great treasure has gone missing in the Everlasting City of the Cat, and some very ambitious people have set their sights on it. Many paws and claws are out, and everyone is sniffing around for something rich and strange. It’s an odd time for a catfolk thief and a gnoll merchant to make very tempting offers to strangers in town. Or, perhaps it’s not odd at all. Get caught up in the hunt with Cat and Mouse by Richard Pett and Greg Marks! A perfect introduction to the Southlands campaign setting, and it fits neatly into any desert city where cats are sacred and rats are cautious and sly.
Among the snow globes that sit gathering dust there is one quite unlike the others. One is full of sand and an ancient library. Shake it and you’re transported to the dungeon. Here's what it has: Beautiful cartography from Dyson Logos 27 keyed rooms to keep your players busy for a few sessions A new enemy called the Mummies who do no damage but burst into sand that gets into armor and skin, spreading a deadly disease A sand golem Pharaoh who can multiply A twisted lich (or moderately low level) who collects teeth A sphinx searching for the answer to a riddle A few traps (including snakes and skin-burrowing scarabs) A treasure room that has roughly 10,000gp worth of assorted treasures, making it difficult to export It exists inside a magical snow globe, meaning it can fit into your campaign world with ease Has repercussions and ways to continue after the fact Basically this is a dungeon for a more Old School feel.
A deadly rumble in the jungle. The wicked Leopard Men might have loads of treasure - but no one has ever met one and lived to talk about it. The Leopard Men are a tribal cult in the jungle who worship the wicked leopard god. They stalk at night looking for suitable sacrifices to their god. A merchant asks the PCs to destroy the Leopard Men to improve his trade agreements with other jungle tribes. Their reward for doing so is all the accumulated wealth of this tribe. The party will investigate the cult by travelling through several tribal villages. The cult members are hidden in these villages, watching for future sacrifice victims. The adventure ends with a battle with the leader of the Leopard Men and a spirit of the leopard god that is summoned. Pgs. 13-27
Somewhere ogre the rainbow.... You and your fellow humanoids are going to be diplomats! Can you say "disaster?" I knew you could. This module is made for humanoid monster PCs created with GAZ10 (The Orcs of Thar Gazetteer). That module is required to play through this adventure. The players start in the village of Flooshpragh, which acts as the horde center for the Rude Mongrel tribe of goblinoid races. Unknown to the players, the tribe has grown unmanagebly large, and the chief has marked the players as expendable individuals! Many subtle clues exist throughout the module to clue the players into this betrayal. The adventure proceeds through a town with roleplaying opportunities, a tower dungeon, and finishes by the players unknowingly pranking a human wizard. Pgs. 50-64