Red for love, white for purity, black for death. He was thoughtful, obedient, and trustworthy - the epitome of a traitor. All he needed were some heroes. A powerful undead knight, Agrovale, wants to be released from a necromancer named Talakara. He sets in motion an elaborate plan to get the players involved in overthrowing Talakara in her bid to become a goddess. He frames the necromancer for a kidnapping and murder and leaves a trail of clues to lead the players to her stronghold. The party travels through an extensive stronghold filled with many different monsters, finishing with a fight with the demigod Talakara and subsequently the freedom-seeking Agrovale. Pgs. 38-63
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
Beginning in the prison of the Castellan of Whitecliff, this campaign arc takes the players from level one to four, presented as a sandbox area in a lonely and gritty peninsula full of villains and opportunities for the players to explore. Much like Stonehell, but for regional play. Published by Coldlight Press
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
This adventure concerns a once-proud fortress that fell into the earth in an age long past. Now known as the Sunless Citadel, its echoing, broken halls house malign creatures. Evil has taken root at the citadel's core, which is deep within a subterranean garden of blighted foliage. Here a terrible tree and its dark shepherd plot in darkness.
The trouble began several weeks ago when a duergar excavation team went to work in a long-abandoned temple. Drawn to the temple by stories of riches and artifacts, the duergar hired several giants as laborers before cracking the temple’s sealed doors. The largest of the giants, a loathsome Thursir mutant named Huppo, used his acidic vomit to expedite tunneling into the temple’s collapsed hall of worship. Then, Huppo found the horn—an unusual instrument made from a single piece of stone, with a mouthpiece so intricate only a master carver could have made it. The horn became the giant’s obsession. Seeing only the horn’s potential sale value, the dwarves demanded Huppo turn it over to them, but Huppo refused. To force compliance, the dwarves stopped feeding the gluttonous brute, but Huppo had already found his own source of food; in deep areas of the temple, worms were chewing out of the rocks, and Huppo ate them by the fistful. He also played the horn. Then, after several days of blowing the horn and devouring the strange worms, Huppo released a belch so noxious the dwarves had no choice but to lock him in a sealed chamber and carefully consider their next move. The horn’s call, however, had caught the attention of passing nomadic orcs. They set up camp outside the temple entrance in the hope of finding the horn and its player. That’s the current situation at the temple: the giant refuses to stop blowing the horn and belching out deadly clouds of stomach gas; the dwarves are frightened and edgy while their leader is obsessed with malevolent whispers; orcs are threatening to overrun the place; and the population of worms grows steadily as something awakens deep in the stone beneath the sanctuary of belches.
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
The Cagewrights continue their manipulations of the city of Cauldron, making the PCs their latest pawns in a gambit that leads all the way to the Abyss. The heroes must complete the test of a deposed demon lord to ensure the safety of Cauldron and all its citizens. The 5th adventure in The Shackled City Adventure Path. Pgs. 38-71
A tribe of evil norkers led by a human illusionist threaten the town of Nolivari. The heroes must brave the wilderness, find Grakhirt's lair, and defeat him to ensure the safety of the local villagers. A straightforward dungeon crawl against lots of norkers! When do you get to see those guys in an adventure? Lots of monsters from the AD&D Monster Manual II as well. This adventure features a little bait-and-switch; the titular bad guy Grakhirt is assumed to be a norker, or gnoll, or some other monstrous humanoid, but is in fact a human illusionist/assassin! Note: The adventure doesn't feature caves AND a dungeon, but since the caves are treated like a dungeon with doors and numbered rooms, this is listed as a dungeon adventure as well. Pgs. 28-37
Snakes! Why does it have to be snakes? They never forgot the theft. They proved it, too. Yuan-ti are looking to reclaim a symbol of their leadership, and it's up to the players to stop them from harming a small desert town. The adventure starts with roleplay and investigation in the town, followed by a trek through the desert and a delve into the Yuan-ti lair. Pgs. 6-18
The player characters are contracted to go on an expedition to discover the fate of a long-lost tribe of Elves (the followers of King Thiondar). This is a lengthy adventure across several locations. Roleplaying is stressed, as some encounters will be very deadly if resolved through combat.
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
In The Standing Stone, a tiefling sorcerer named Dyson discovers a circle of standing stones constructed centuries ago by druids to hold their annual rituals; the druid community was later destroyed by the great dragon Ashardalon. Dyson uses the magic of the stones to replace people with animals transformed into humanoid form, loyal to him. Dyson encounters the player characters in the village of Ossington and tries to manipulate them into eliminating the remaining enemies standing in his way.
"More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge (called the Forge of Spells), where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby human town of Phandalin (pronounced fan-duh-lin) prospered as well. But then disaster struck when orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path. A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked wave echo cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost. For centuries, rumours of buried riches have attracted treasure seekers and opportunists to the area around Phandalin, but no one has ever succeeded in locating the lost mine. In recent years, people have resettled the area. Phandalin is now a rough-and-tumble frontier town. More important, the Rockseeker brothers - a trio of dwarves - have discovered the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, and they intend to reopen the mines. Unfortunately for the Rockseekers, they are not the only ones interested in Wave Echo Cave. A mysterious villain known as the Black Spider controls a network of bandit gangs and goblin tribes in the area, and his agents have followed the Rockseekers to their prize. Now the Black Spider wants Wave Echo Cave for himself, and he is taking steps to make sure no one else knows where it is." Extra Info from AL.com users: by @marcellarius. "There are a variety of locations in this adventure: the town of Phandalin, a gang hideout, a ruined keep in the forest, a destroyed village, and Wave Echo Cave (a dungeon crawl). The adventure is written in a sandbox style and relies on the players to choose their path. Phandalin offers several side-quests which could serve as hooks for continuing adventures. The premade characters have ties in their backgrounds to NPCs and locations. If you're not using these you'll need to consider other ways to introduce key NPCs."
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
The vile city of Scuttlecove is the home of murderers, thieves, demon whorshipers, peddlers of vice, and monsters. Here, anyone can find a place to hide, provided they can survive the terrors and dangers that infest the city streets. Scuttlecove is also the home of the Crimson Fleet, a notorious band of pirates who have long held the Vohoun Ocean as their private looting grounds. The time has come to take the fight to these legendary pirates, to confront them in their own depraved lair. "Serpents of Scuttlecove" is the eighth chapter in 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 #344 of Dragon magazine features several additional locations the PCs might wish to visit during their stay in the city of Scuttlecove. The characters once again board the Sea Wyvern, this time to sail for Scuttlecove – a hideous city of pirates, slavers, cannibals, and worse – in search of clues to the final Savage Tide and the rescue of their patron. Pgs. 42-75 Also see Pgs. 76-85 for Backdrop: Scuttlecove City of Chaos.
You say you want a revolution? Monsters are prowling through farmland, people are starving, and the government is on the verge of collapse. But why? The Knights of the Shield have infiltrated the town council of Zazesspur, are are subtly manipulating the countryside around Ithmong by bringing in attacking monsters and making the land unfertile. They hope to make one of their members king of Tethyr! The players are tasked with cleaning up the countryside of Ithmong, finding the source of the increased monsters, and stopping whatever is making the land unfertile. Pgs. 4-18
Giants and ghost trees and foul undead beasties... What happens when elves, giants, and a mysterious witch all decide only you can settle their troubles. Strange new tree species! A hobgoblin fort! Unexplained noises during the day and different noises at night! Investigate and explore the Bretonwood to get to the bottom of its problems. The adventure provides an overland open-world style map of the Bretonwood which the players are encouraged to explore. Many set and random encounters are provided. There are opportunities for combat in this area, but players should be ready to handle some problems out of combat to get the most satisfying experience. Pgs. 22-43
Terror grips the city of Sharn. A serial killer stalks the streets and catalogues his slaughter in the annals of the city’s newspaper, to the delight and horror of its readers. To catch this elusive criminal, the PCs must match wits with an old adversary. Even beaten, scarred, and imprisoned, Viktor Saint-Demain is determined to have the final word. This is a sequel to Dungeon Magazine issue #133’s adventure “Chimes at Midnight”.
What was supposed to be a simple prisoner transfer grows complicated when the PCs arrive at a prison that’s recently come under new management.