The town of Somber Hill is a quiet settlement in the foothills of a mountain range. A few days travel from the nearest city, the people of Somber Hill are a humble and self-reliant bunch. Unbeknownst to its people, the small town hides a sinister secret, some of the residents of Somber Hill belong to a cult that worships a long dead entity. Known only as The Dark One by their followers, this ancient being once called Old Somber Hill home. Their dark master is entombed in the catacombs beneath the town, and the cult hopes to resurrect their master with a blood sacrifice. The Crypt of Somber Hill is a Setting Neutral adventure and thus can be easily included in any existing story-line with minor alterations and adjustments or outright slotted into any existing campaign setting.
"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
People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.
Laugher’s Gorge occupies a stretch of the canyon that runs through the local badlands, named for the haunting laughter that occasionally erupts from its depths. When travelers using the road past the gorge become infected with cackle fever, it’s up to the party to find out what’s causing the mysterious laughing sickness. Though they find a pack of gnolls infesting the canyon, it’s no joke when they discover who (or what) is pulling the strings! Laughter and humor are central themes in No Laughing Matter. The players are met with the will of a prankster god, riddles to solve, and may be forced to come up with some jokes of their own. But this isn’t an adventure to take lightly. If the party underestimates Laugher’s Gorge, they may find themselves infected with cackle fever… and there’s nothing funny about that! Dungeons on Demand is a line instant dungeons you can drop into your campaign, each is designed for 4-5 player parties of specified levels, and each dungeon is complete with a back story, hand drawn maps, traps, puzzles, and reference information to monsters and treasure. You can customize each one to fit in your campaign however you wish, and each one can be played through in one or two gaming sessions.
This quest takes the player characters through a harrowing journey of dangerous adversity! The characters are informed that some unknown adversary has disrupted an ancient tree called Wise Willow. This sends them first on a subterranean excursion into ancient tunnels infested with curiously ravenous Thri-Kreen! Then, they are introduced more formally with Wise Willow, who requires their services to cure her terrible plague! The players must then navigate the wild maze of her surface roots, purge it of grotesque creatures, and then find the cause of her ailment. Doing so excites the interest of the deities, Lathander and Sylvanus, who descend from the heavens in a glorious show of light and mysticism! The two divine beings then graciously bestow their gifts upon the party to reward their deeds. The player characters embark on a perilous journey that will test their resourcefulness and wits in a building arc of intensity. The environments are deeply detailed by the boxed text and should provide you and your characters a sturdy foundation for your creativity to launch from. There is a compelling story full of lamentations as well as laughs. The robust exposition sets up hours of challenging, combat-heavy “dungeon delving” throughout the quest. The aim is to maintain a versatile balance between “hack-and-slash” and “immersive storytelling” play styles, so that everyone can enjoy it in their own way. The numerous optional components allow you to scale the difficulty to your liking, and there is plenty of space for you to use your own creativity to enhance the content. Guts, Gods & Glory is a Dungeons & Dragons module using the 5e rules. It is designed to be played by three to six players of sixth to eighth level. It takes place in the Sword Coast setting of the Forgotten Realms, specifically the Elturgard region. Changes can be made to make it playable in a nondescript setting.
A trap that perhaps works too well. No matter how much loot you take, you never took anything at all. Confused? Wait until you try this dungeon. The players are hired to investigate and clear a tomb of a time wizard. This tomb is heavily guarded both by creatures and traps, and some sages are concerned that the defenses are lasting longer than they were supposed to. Unknown to the sages, the wizard, Sur-in Am, bound a time elemental to guard the treasures of the tomb. This guardian's duty is to frustrate robbers by returning stolen items to their original place and also reset traps in the tomb. Pgs. 26-36
Something is very wrong in Stormport: Corruption runs rampant among city officials, more and more people turn up missing every day, dark prophesies of Change convert new believers, and rumors persist of a demonic beast with a taste for human flesh that stalks the alleyways. Worse yet, spring is overdue; winter refuses to relinquish its icy grip. Only one vile force could cause such chaos: The illithids have risen up once again, ready to enslave the surface races. Now, as never before, the world needs great heroes, mighty adventurers who will challenge the illithids; dark agenda. A Darkness Gathering is the first of an adventure trilogy (continuing with Masters of Eternal Night and concluding in Dawn of the Overmind) that pits brave adventurers against the brain eating mind flayers. Dungeon Masters can run each individual adventure of the trilogy separately, or they can be linked together to form a seamless, epic-length adventure.
The final confrontation with the giant, King Snurre, and the entry of mighty adventurers into the caverns under his stronghold (DUNGEON MODULE G3, HALL OF THE FIRE GIANT KING) discovered the Dark Elves, the Drow, had instigated the giant alliance and its warfare upon mankind and its allied races. This module contains background information, a large-scale referee's map with a matching partial map for players, referee's notes, special exploration and encounter pieces, a large map detailing a cavern area, encounter and map matrix keys, and an additional section pertaining to a unique new creature for use with this module and the game as a whole. A complete setting for play of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is contained herein. This module can be played alone, as the first part of a series of three modules (with SHRINE OF THE KUO-TOA, D2, and VAULT OF THE DROW, D3), or as the fourth part of a continuing series of modules which form a special progressive campaign scenario (DUNGEON MODULES G1, G2, G3, D1, D2, D3, and Q1, (QUEEN OF THE DEMONWEB PITS). TSR 9019
Unwrap this player-driven winter mystery for four to five characters of 5th level. No more railroads. Every decision matters and changes how the story unfolds. Branching paths, multiple dungeon entrances, and a myriad of potential conclusions—this adventure provides endless fun with rewarding choices and a range of challenges for any character. This product includes: - 4 to 6 hours of play packed into 15 pages - High-resolution VTT maps of the temple - 6 new monsters, including Brain in a Jar and Workshop Devils - 7 stand-out NPCs with clear motivations players will love or love to hate - The perfect adventure for the holiday season, including a Midwinter festival with two classic games reimagined using D&D rules—snowball fight and charades - All magic items and stat blocks detailed in the appendices for easy reference Content Warning: Animal mutation, blood, enslaved devils, undead, torture,
Stop evil cultists of the Crushing Wave. The party rescues a member of the Brotherhood of the Cloak in Mulmaster (local mage guild); Drayson Fivestar. Drayson asks them to investigate the murder of his colleague. After some urban investigation, the investigation leads to a former guard tower of the Zhentarim, now occupied by elemental cultists. The tower was submerged in mud, but recently uncovered. The party faces of with the cultists. (Large page count, but feasible as a one shot after some editing, will probably take two sessions at most)
The Fate of Faerûn Lies in Shadowy Darkness! Daggerdale is reeling from a sudden series of murderous drow raids. As a grave threat to the entire surface world develops in the war-torn dark elf city of Maerimydra, intrepid heroes must discover its source and destroy it, if they can.
The Beautiful Hardcover Book available today at Compose Dream Games! Hell used to run on fear. Now it runs on quarterly projections. When Greed seized the Burning Throne, the first thing to go was overhead. Guards? Redundant. Torture specialists? Consolidated. The Styx? Outsourced. What remains is a skeleton crew of overworked fiends, a crumbling infrastructure of eternal punishment, and one very exploitable gap in security. Your players are the strike team. The mission: extract a damned soul who knows too much. The catch: even a budget Hell is still Hell. Expect devils who've traded pitchforks for pivot tables, infernal middle management clinging to what little power remains, and hazards that would make OSHA weep. A Privatized Little Hell is the adventure for tables that have outgrown dungeons and want something with teeth—and a severance package. A high-level dark comedy adventure for 5e that will make your current capitalist hellscape seem less bad. God’s been robbed. We’re breaking the thief out of Hell to find out where he stashed the goods. Are you in? Normally Hell would never relinquish a soul, but after a tumultuous infernal fiscal crisis/civil cold war, Pride’s out, and Greed is in. Guards have been downsized, security assets have been sold, and the Forces of Good have hatched a plot. Yet even in destitution, Hell is still dangerous. There are only a few heroes strong enough to attempt such a mission: your players! A Privatized Little Hell is a 5e-compatible Black Comedy Dungeon Crawl for roughly four characters of sixteenth level. This is a high-level hellscape that’ll keep your players chuckling, gasping, and fighting to escape. Warning: this adventure will kick your ass and charge you for the pleasure! Includes A Rare Find - The Definitive high-level indie adventure for 5e. Tortured Artistry - 104 lush pages of rich, raucous writing and art. Encounter design that respects your players' power - No trash mobs. No filler. Every fight is a set piece worthy of 16th-level legends. NPCs you'll actually remember - Devils with performance reviews, damned middle managers, and one very stressed archfiend trying to make Q4 numbers. Loot worth dying for (again) - Magic items that feel like rewards, not spreadsheet entries . The Depth Crawl System - Procedural hell generation for when your party inevitably goes off-book into the abyss.
This is the laboratory of High Alchemist Sureves Epans. He led a group of alchemists in research for many years, but recently there was a bit of a mishap. He discovered his wife was cheating on him with one of his employees and while in a drunken stupor trying to create a discreet potion to deal with the two of them, he let loose an infectious plague on the lab which turned all but a lucky few in the facility into shambling husks of their former selves., fused with their own creations as their minds turned to know but one thought - rage. This dungeon has rules to modify all encounters for a group of players levels 4 through 6 and is intended for a party of four. If you have more players, feel free to adjust the difficulty up one level for each additional player or simply tune the monsters to your needs. This dungeon contains many original enemies, a unique puzzle, and an environment that is meant to bring a sense of terror and anxiety on your players. I consider this to be the Horror-themed adventure of the module so feel free to add some creepy music and extra details along the way to bring the area to life (or death).
Into the Forsaken Temple's Crypt is a short adventure for four 10th-level characters. The adventure takes place in a buried temple crypt, which has been sealed for centuries. Dungeon Masters can adjust it for higher-level characters by widening the dead magic areas and increasing the number and power of constructs and undead that inhabit the complex. The PCs had just entered the Forsaken Temple's crypt in the last episode. Now they can begin to penetrate deeper into the crypt, discovering more of its hidden dangers.
If you save only one kidnapped daughter this year, save this one. Rescuing maidens is a dirty job, but - you know the rest. On the road, the PCs encounter the aftermath of an attack on a small merchant caravan. The PCs must find and return Zenobia, the merchant's daughter. To do this, they must track, locate, and confront the unknown raiders while keeping the Zenobia's safety in mind. Pgs. 4-19 & 34
Deep beneath the Isle of Dread, in a place forgotten by the world of light, an ancient, unfathomable evil festers. Within the desiccated ruin known as Golsimorga, the debased kopru servants of Demogorgon work foul rites, steeping immature shadow pearls in pits of liquid insanity. None from the world above have yet fathomed what terrors lurk beneath the Isle of Dread, nor what mad scheme roils to profane life deep within the city's gangrenous corpse. "The Lightless Depths" is the sixth chapter of the Savage Tides 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 #353 of Dragon features ways to improve the PCs' vessel, the Sea Wyvern, as they take their adventures back to the seas. When the PCs journey deep under the Isle of Dread to find the source of the shadow pearls, they discover horrors beyond imagining in a haunted underground city perched on sanity's razored edge. Pgs. 28-66
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
This quest is for a party looking to acquire diamonds to use as components for higher-level resurrection spells. To gather what they need, the characters embark on a brief expedition to the Elemental Plane of Earth where diamonds are fairly abundant. However, the party only has an hour to gather as many diamonds as they can before the portal—and the entire cave area—collapses. Includes a quest-related NPC that a player can control if they're waiting for their character to be resurrected.
A short plug in adventure that can be used as part of a larger campaign or run as a one shot for 3-4 Tier I or II characters. The Twin Temple was once a place where the people of the city can come to and get help and guidance, but change has come to the Twin Temple now. The characters seek to find what poisons this well and how they can get to the bottom of it and who is responsible. This adventure is ideal for for 3-4 tier I and II characters. Playable as a one shot or the start of a larger campaign. The characters are sent to investigate the Twin Temple and see if they can find the root cause of trouble with various clues and encounters in most rooms this adventure is customizable and adaptable to fit into most campaigns as needed.
Elanil Elassidil, an elf bard of no small legacy, has put out a call for trustworthy agents. It is time, it seems, for a quietly hidden piece of elven history to become known to the world. Meira Faerenduil, lost knight of Myth Drannor, has been dis-covered, and must be brought back to civilization. A four-hour adventure for 5th-10th level characters. **NOTE** As of August 30th this adventure no longer grants an Oathbow in Adventurers League play. It has been changed to award a +2 Longbow per the Adventurers League Content Catalog.