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
Travellers are going missing on the Long Road, on the 100 mile stretch between Triboar and Longsaddle. Our heroes investigate and discover a haunted mansion with a dark history and a gruesome secret. Their quest brings them to the very gates of hell itself, where an infernal abomination presents them with their greatest challenge yet... Inspired by a Clark Ashton Smith story.
Was it destiny or something worse that destroyed the Order of the Opal Fist? A dungeon crawl designed for four 3rd level characters. The original article has a sidebar for scaling the adventure up or down. Pgs. 106-124
Someone in the misty, wooded Moonshae isles needs hundreds of brand new swords taken under guard from Sword Coast smiths to a certain place on the Isles. The swords are needed so badly, and their safe arrival is considered so unlikely, that someone is willing to pay adventurers a lot of gold - someone fairly important. Adventures foolish enough to take assignments too good to be true (or merely desperate for coins) will soon find themselves embroiled in a dark and mysterious struggle against evil that will take them into sacred groves, crumbling castles, and through ancient magical gates to the halls of the High King - and beyond -- An adventure that takes place on the Moonshae Isles, in which a mid-to-high level party fights against the encroaching darkness of The Cult of Bane. Although helped by the Harpers, players will have to uncover the plans of the cult, and thwart them where possible. Preventing the summoning of the "Godson", a manifestation of Bane's evil. Part of the "Forgotten Realms Adventure" series, this is FA1 - Halls of the High King. FA2 is "Nightmare Keep" TSR 9301
"The broken outline of Cear Ferros emerged on the horizon. Its ancient walls stand silent and looming as you approach them, casting long and eerie shadows across the land." An adventure through a cursed castle crawling with undead in search of missing merchants. For Shadowdark Published as part of the Shots in the Dark collection.
The Boneyard is a 3- to 4-hour adventure for characters levels 1st to 4th. It features a flavorful setting, memorable roleplaying, oddball and depraved NPCs, interwoven storylines, and macabre combat encounters! The adventure also includes 3 new NPC stat blocks. When darkness falls and the iron gates close behind you, the dead come out to play!
A sunken ship...a lost relic...a race against evil! A seafaring adventure for charactes level 5-7! Years ago, the Salt of the Wavemother terrorized the seas, captained by the fearsome Cutter Blighe. Overnight it vanished along with all souls aboard. Now cultists are seeking Tarsik Bilgebreach, rumored to be the only surviving crew member. It's up to you to accompany Tarsik to the wreck of the Wavemother and prevent the cultists from acquiring an artifact that would give them control of the sea! Includes suggestions on how to place the adventure in your larger Ghost of Saltmarsh campaign, including faction opinions of the events!
Jungle, tomb rading style adventure that sets the group to a new locale, with it's own eco systems and cultures. Exploration adventure, with glint of gold as a catalyst. The adventurers accidently find a map, which leads them to this unknown land. "Can you unravel the map's mysteries and find your way to the promised treasure? Or will your dreams end only in death and an unmarked grave far from home! Only the bravest characters of levels 3-5 will live to discover that all that glitters is not gold, but much, much more!" TSR 9126
The Dread of Dynwel is an adventure set in the Forgotten Realms and optimized for 4-5 players. The characters start as a down on their luck but somewhat experienced crew of adventurers with a wanted poster which pays a much-needed gold reward. Soon, events in the Sunset Vale are revealed as more dangerous than they seem, sweeping the characters along with them. From the heights of the Sunset Mountains, the alleyways of Scornubel, and depths of the Reaching Wood: The Dread of Dynwel covers levels 2 through 8 and features material which can be played as a full campaign or dropped into an ongoing one.
As the floating cities of Netheril hover peacefully in the air, the winds of intrigue boil all around them. The phaerimm continue to plot the downfall of the Netherese even as Karsus prepares for the casting of his greatest spell. Undead walk the land, driving orcs and humans before them. And somewhere below the greatest nation of Faerûn, the Tarrasque awakens from a long slumber. How the Mighty Are Fallen, is an adventure designed for use with the Netheril: Empire of magic boxed campaign setting (which is required to play this adventure). Within these pages, the final heroes of Netheril can : Gather the spell components, that Karsus requires for casting his "most wondrous" spell, the only 12th level spell ever known. He just needs a few body parts from two creatures - A gold dragon and the Tarrasque. Reuinte lost lovers after they have been separated by death. Nopheu's wife was killed in a magical explosions, and now he's finally saved enough money for her to be resurrected. Certainly a dead body couldn't pose a threat to a band of stalwart heroes?! Follow the winds of fate to wherever Tyche delivers them. Numerous side adventures allow players to take their characters to a variety of different locations. Some heroes might want to follow the trail of the missing nether scrolls, while others might want to join the resistance and fight Karsus and the other archwizards. But only the bravest hearts can take the first step... TSR 9540
"The first raid on our village happened a little over 3 months ago. We awoke in the morning to discover that the Cooper family's house at the edge of town had been sacked in the entire family was missing," croaks Obed, the village elder. "We mounted a search party, but found no trace of them." The old man lifts his gaze to the west woods. "After the third such attack, we sent a messenger to seek aid from one of the larger towns nearby. He never returned." He turns back to face your party and continues, "We had no idea who or what was attacking our village... Until last week. Creatures in black robes drifted out of the woods to the west and began setting houses on fire. Then, they seized four of our bravest men and carried them, screaming, into the mists." Obed throws his mug of ale into the fire, suddenly angry, "The only creature capable of this evil is the Barrow King, who lives in the burial mounds to the west. But I swear, we have done nothing to focus his anger upon us, nothing!" Warily, the elder stands, leaning heavily on his walking stick. Slowly, he lifts it, pointing at each one of you in turn. "If it is the Barrow King, God help us!"
Within the darakhul city of Gonderif, at the nadir of a thousand‑foot‑deep chasm, is the site of a vile tournament where Gonderif ’s most rebellious slaves and war prisoners are forced to fight to the death—and through undeath after undeath—until only one living champion remains. Whether they came as captives or as liberators, the PCs must survive the Undying Tournament.
The town of Whitehaven is beset with undead. The townsfolk are quick to blame the Witch of Whitehaven, who lives nearby with her partner in the Surbrin Hills. Yet a more insidious evil lurks in the midst of town, cloaked in a holy man’s robes. And far underground, an ancient evil artifact stirs. The town is in need of heroes. Will you answer the call?
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and behold the greatest circus in the land! Behold the skilled mummers performing at The Stage; you’ll literally feel like you’re part of the play! Thrill to the death-defying acts (and audience) in the two rings under the Big Top! Laugh at the antics of the baleful buffoons, harmful harlequins, and malevolent merrymakers of Clown Alley! Gaze in wonder at the wild beasts of the Menagerie, (just make sure you know which side of the bars you’re on)! All this and more, for the small price of a single admission, to Bitterbark’s Magnificent Circus! The circus is in town! But there’s something not quite right about it. There are rumors of missing children, evil plots, and more. Can you discover the secrets hidden inside Bitterbark’s Magnificent Circus? Intended as a stand-alone adventure, but there are notes on how to include it as part of the Castle of the Mad Archmage mega-dungeon adventure. Published by BRW Games
In the deep, it has awoken. Hidden in the ruins of an old dwarven kingdom awaits a powerful relic, and an army kobolds are on the march to retrieve it. Dare the heroes enter this ancient place, and will they find the relic before the army arrives. In a race against time the adventures may unleash the greatest evil, while trying to save the world from a grim fate. Tomb of the Dragon's Heart is a low-level OSR adventure suited for Labyrinth Lord and other oldschool retro clones. The adventure was originally written for the Danish Living Campaign The Hinterlands, and it is for the first time presented in English. The adventure introduces the players to a different tradition of adventures, and it one with a focus on exploration and encountering the unknown. The adventure contains new magical items and relics and new monsters to challenge your players. Tomb of the Dragon's Heart also functions as a prequel to The Flooded Temple and to Grave of the Heartless. Published by Greis Games.
"A well-written adventure through a mansion filled with dark secrets." The party is recruited by an innkeeper to recover a flower from a nearby mansion. He is an alchemist and he is running short on his supply of the Midnight Violet. Town rumors warn the party to stay away. But, that's unlikely given that your heros are mighty and brave. While exploring the mansion, the adventurers will learn the story of the family that once lived there and what caused their demise. That is...if they live that long. Two new creatures and one new magic item are introduced in this adventure.
No-one knows why, but many of the villagers of Greenmist have been going insane. Not only that, but something has caused the surrounding environment to transform into fetid swamps. Heroes from far and wide have gone into the swamps to destroy the source of the madness, but none have returned. The truth is that the psychic whispers of an aboleth have invaded the minds of Greenmist's people. The creature called Seedooloo has been using forbidden magic, mad science, and the strange ability of his kuo-toan worshipers to grant himself the power to drive the surface world to insanity. The Call of Seedooloo includes monsters found in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.
A beloved priest has gone missing, and sinister trouble stirs beneath the Church of St. Terragnis. Can the heroes rescue the victims of an age-old evil before it claims more innocent lives?
From time out of mind, the standing stones known as the Circle of Cahervaniel have stood lonely vigil on a grassy hilltop. Sheepherders once moved their flocks over the hill and through the circle, sometimes resting in the cool shadows cast by the ancient stones. Everything changed when a stone finger fell, revealing a fissure in the earth. Now, dark shadows caress the circle after the sun sets. Creatures out of nightmare dance upon the hillside at night. Many swear that a unicorn of deepest ebony now hunts all upon two legs who draw near, while stunted creatures scurry in the shadows, abducting sheep from their sheds and drawing them down below ground for food. After the disappearance of a sheperd, fear grows stronger in neighboring villages. Who will brave the black hollow of the ancient Circle of Cahervaniel? Heroes of stern mettle must descend into the cavity and explore the ancient spaces existing there. Product History "The Shattered Circle" (1999), by Bruce R. Cordell, is a generic adventure for AD&D 2e. It was published in January 1999. Origins: Another Generic. After Wizards of the Coast began publishing D&D, their first year and a half of generic adventures were all classic revivals: returns to RPGA tournaments, to classic adventures, and to Dungeon scenarios. Even "A Paladin in Hell" (1998) was a return in its own way, to the demons and devils that TSR had become afraid of. Wizards was staking out new ground by reclaiming the past. "The Shattered Circle" (1999) was the first generic Wizards adventure that was simply a generic adventure, with no deeper origins and no hidden motives. Artifacts of Note. the foundingstone and the harp Euphonious are both one-off named magic items. However, it's sword Icerazor that's the most interesting. It's said to have grown from a shard of Frostrazor — a sword that would only appear ten months later in Return to White Plume Mountain (1999). There, it's listed as one of Keraptis' four implements of power, alongside Wave, Blackrazor, and Whelm — meaning that Icerazor (and this adventure) are just one step removed from White Plume Mountain itself. Monsters of Note: Chitine. It's somewhat curious, given the Greyhawk and Neverness connections, to note that the chitine debuted in MC11: "Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix" (1991). The spider-humanoids have generally been a Realms creature, featuring in bestiaries and histories for that setting. However, they also received a more generic "Ecology of the Chitine" in Dragon #223 (November 1995), which introduced the choldrith, or chitine priestess. This is their major adventure appearance. When asked about pronouncing their name Cordell says that he "can't be 100% sure of the original designer's pronunciation", but he prefers "KI-TEEN". About the Creators. By 1999, Cordell was one of D&D's most prolific writers. He'd previously authored many slightly related adventures, such as The Gates of Firestorm Peak(1996) and the sahuagin (1997) and illithid (1998) Monstrous Arcana adventure trilogies. This conversion guide allows DMs to run the original module with 5th Edition rules. To use this conversion guide you will need a copy of The Shattered Circle, originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in Digital format at the DMs Guild. This adventure is a generic adventure, not specifically based in any existing setting. Suggestions are given in the conversion guide to place the adventure in the Forgotten Realms.
Not even memories of past glory live on in the gentle hills around the village of Kusnir. Today its people have more concern for commonplace things, like the harvest, trade, and the threat of death in the night! Kusnir is beset by a skulk. The attentions of such a creature are a curse on any community. Streets and alleys which ring to the voices of children by day become fearful, shadowy places by night. Men go abroad armed and in groups, while women and children stay behind locked doors and even there are not safe. But life goes on. The lot of the peasant is always hard, what cannot be prevented must be endured and, of course, things could be worse. Much worse. The skulk has begun to visit the village more and more often. Sometimes it kills, yet just as often it spares a victim, leaving clear signs of what it might have done had it wished. Its visits are now marked by strange and illegible symbols scrawled in blood on the walls of the buildings. The people are worried, helpless, and desperate. Desperate enough to welcome adventurers. UK2: "The Sentinel" (1983) is the second UK-series adventure, the fifth TSR UK adventure overall, the first solo effort by Morris, and the first half of the two-part Adlerweg series (whew!). It was run as a tournament at the GamesFair '83 Open, then published later in 1983. TSR 9101