Ancient port city on the edge of a desert. The city is stratified by social class and some of the slaves have formed a cannibal cult to Kthulhu. City + hexcrawl + dungeon. The Anthropophagi of Xambaala™ takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is inspired by Robert E. Howard’s “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula” and by various short tales of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. It is designed for use with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea ™(AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™. This work is both a setting and an adventure. The setting describes the town of Xambaala, noting key people, locations, and local lore. The adventure proper provides players with a variety of environments and the several factions fighting over them for their own goals. With a bit of skill and luck, stalwart adventurers may emerge richer and maybe wiser. The situation that will develop in Xambaala will be determined by the players’ choices.
The search for a missing paladin takes the PCs deep into the heart of a frontier torn apart by cult wars—and face to face with an ancient evil. The paladin Jaryd set out to find and destroy the Hand of Naarash. He was never heard from again. Now the PCs must retrace Jaryn’s steps across the harsh wilderness and determine what has become of the noble warrior. Pgs. 29-59
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.
England, 1620. To strike a blow against the Patriarchy, six women perform a dangerous rite in an abandoned priory. Through dance, they commune with Terpsichore, Greek muse and patroness of dancers. Starving demons slither across the moors; monstrous nuns shriek in the infirmary; and within the Attic, a great unraveling awaits. The fate of the world rests in the hands of the players. Will they bring about an egalitarian utopia? Will they skulk away in the night, pockets bulging with treasure? Will they bring about the destruction of all things? Will they find the Tract of Teratology, a randomly-generated creature-summoning ritual with 3.6 quadrillion combinations? After this adventure, nothing will be the same. An adventure for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games. Writing by Rafael Chandler Cover Art by Jason Rainville Interior Art by Jason Rainville and Ian MacLean Cartography by Ian MacLean Layout and Design by Sarah Richardson
Three important citizens of Phlan, who stand against the tyrannical dragon that rules, seek to escape and find refuge across the Moonsea. Can you extricate those that are vital to the factions before it’s too late?
Synopsis: Goblin Bathwater, a magical drug, has taken hold in a sleepy coastal town at the edge of the Empire. As the characters investigate the origin of the drug, they uncover an international criminal conspiracy, wild and ancient magic, and a threat to reality itself. Contents: This beautifully made, 54-page adventure offers: A fully fleshed out, setting-agnostic starter area, brimming with colourful NPCs and hooks for adventure. Balanced encounters to bring characters to level 2; then some more devious encounters on their way to level 3. Three mini-dungeons built on the design philosophy of the "5 room dungeon method" Multiple big, cinematic set-piece boss encounters what will make your players feel epic. A facetted intrigue, which does not immediately suggest a simple, ready-made solution but invites the players to come up with their own, personal approach. Why pick this adventure? Hey, my name is Marius. This is my first time publishing on the DMs Guild but I wouldn't call myself a newcomer. I started playing Pathfinder 1e back in 2014. When I took over as our group's DM in 2019, we swapped over to 5e. We have run many, many modules and adventures since. Currently I play three games a week. In short: You could say I'm hooked. I created The Goblin Bathwater Incident as the ideal adventure for in-between your big modules, but it isn't a simple little adventure. With a playtime of about 30 hours, it still manages to hit that sweet-spot, where it establishes context, makes you grow fond of NPCs, and makes those big bossfight wins so much sweeter, all without taking more than a few sessions. The Goblin Bathwater Incident is different from many of the 1st tier adventures in that it pits the characters against traps and monsters, but also asks difficult, open-ended ethical questions, where a simple strategy of "apply sword to head of bad guy" will not cut it.
A Planescape adventure for 4-7 PCs of levels 9-12 (about 60 total levels). While the module begins in the planar city of Sigil, most of the action takes place in Vudra, a layer of the Abyss. The PCs start in Sigil, tasked to find a vanished brother, and the trail leads to Vudra where the layers demonic ruler gathers magical blades for a terrible vengeance plot. Pgs. 32-58
“The Temple Between” is an adventure for 9th level characters, and it is challenging enough to take them to 11th level by the time all is said and done. Although intended as the final chapter of the heroic tier portion of the Scales of War Adventure Path, it can be run as a standalone adventure, or as an adventure in a campaign of your own making, with a small degree of modification. It contains elements of urban investigation, dungeon delving, and even wartime conflict, making it a suitable adventure to players of many tastes and preferences. The western end of Elsir Vale has been greatly troubled in recent days. The threat of the orc hordes from beyond the Stonehome Mountains, though turned back at Bordrin’s Watch, still lingers in the people’s minds. Peculiar and hostile creatures of shadow lurk in the caverns and caves below. Political squabbling grows among the city’s powerful dwarf clans. All this makes the city particularly vulnerable to an enemy nobody saw coming - that nobody even imagined. This enemy has goals and objectives far beyond the ultimately unimportant Elsir Vale, but the first step is the utter subjugation of Overlook. An enemy who, at least in part, is already here. In this adventure the player characters start by investigating the strange behavior of the city's clergy. They swiftly discover hints of a conspiracy worming its way through the city hierarchy - some members are possessed while others have been replaced by dopplegangers. After trailing this conspiracy to its source they discover a portal that leads to an ancient temple in the mountains. Using the portal, the PCs go to the abandoned ancient temple where they must confront both a cadre of fey and a band of mercenaries, from whom they learn there is a plot for a full-scale invasion of the region! The PCs must them rush back to Overlook and cement their place as heroes as they face off against the invading forces. Pgs. 4-71
"The Pirates' Cove" is the lair of a blasphemous cult, suitable for four or five 5th level characters. This adventure can be finished in a single session.
In ages past, the wizard Karavakos made a deal with devils, which resulted in him being trapped in an extradimensional pyramid, unable to escape. His only hope for escape is to lure adventurers into the Pyramid, in hopes that they will destroy his splinters and return his power to him. But his wife Vyrellis, whom he slew in a rage when the Pyramid formed, still lingers in spirit and wants nothing more than to see him laid low... Although set to allow PCs to just fight through each encounter, tips are included for PCs negotiating with the factions trapped in the pyramid.
The Siege of Castle Rend is an adventure for the fifth edition of the world’s first roleplaying game, suitable for five 5th-level characters. It takes place over four parts, and each part can be completed in one or two sessions of play, depending on your group’s playstyle and how long you like to play in a single sitting. If all goes according to plan over the course of this adventure, the player characters will expose an usurping lord, fight orcs, acquire a stronghold, defend it from an invading army, win the admiration of a town filled with potential vassals, and make political connections within the Barony of Bedegar. Of course, no adventure goes according to plan. The PCs will invariably throw these well-laid schemes into chaos, and they’ll have to improvise. But if we know how things would have gone if the PCs never showed up (or are cowards), it makes it easier for us GMs to improvise when things go off the rails. Published by MCDM
Deep in the wooded wilderness, the village of Grimmsgate is an outpost town on a seldom-traveled trail, right at the edge of nowhere. The village’s half-ruined temple of Law, dilapidated inn, drunken blacksmith, exiled trader and a few fur-trappers are enough to keep the bloody-minded denizens of the dark forest at bay, but nobody really expects the village to still be there in another ten years. The woods have become too dangerous for the trappers who once caught animals for fur, and merchants no longer travel the poorly-maintained road. What great evil and what fabulous treasures are to be found in these lands? A brave band of adventurers might make their fortunes here. Or perhaps they might never return… Grimmsgate is an introductory adventure for the Swords & Wizardry tabletop roleplaying game. The Swords & Wizardry rules are needed to play this adventure.
Protect the Future! At the height of Netheril's power, the fortress of Spellgard held many great secrets of the Empire of Magic. Now, only ruins remain... and one last guardian, the near-mythical Lady Saharel, whose prophetic visions draw the desperate and the doomed from across Faerun. But a dark presence in one of Spellgard's intact towers wants to control the power of prophecy for itself and remake the future in its own image.
The peaks of a nearby mountain range have been home to Krikk, an old white dragon, for as long as anyone can remember. Aside from claiming ownership of a few villages and settlements near her range, she hasn’t posed much of a threat or even taken much notice of political events around her. Last week, a king’s prophet had a vision of golems made of ice that wouldn’t melt smashing through the royal castle walls, and of crops frozen under sheets of ice formed by the white dragon’s breath. Alarmed, the king has sent word that he desires someone brave enough to go to the dragon and find out whether she’s about to attack. If she is, the party must stop her before it’s too late. But, another prophet warns that the white dragon has an entirely different plot afoot, and that an icy grave awaits anyone who goes up the mountain. The player characters (PCs) have to figure out what’s going on—then decide on their own what they should do about it, while the fate of a king and his castle hangs in the balance.
A Brelish spy steals and defects with a powerful magic sword and the adventurer's have been hired to track down and recover the item. This adventure features a lengthy chase overland on horseback, on a train, and an airship. Along the way the adventurers will also have to deal with third parties seeking to recover the sword for themselves, such as Warforged agents of the Lord of Blades who have hired halfling mercenaries riding glidewings (pteranodons), and Emerald Claw raiders piloting an opposing airship. This adventure can be run stand-alone or as a sequel to The Forgotten Forge and Shadows of the Last War.
The Lotus Blossom Steppes have long been a land of disjointed tribes, squabbling with one another for central rulership. In the past, great rulers laid claim to the Steppes, bringing the tribes under a single banner for a great purpose—be it under the terrible dictatorship of a half-rakshasa khan or an enlightened visionary khan that leads the tribes beyond the borders of the Steppes. Yet there is great power tucked away behind the tribes’ individual banners. All it takes is an individual with enough ambition and enough power to change the destiny of the Lotus Blossom Steppes... and one ambitious man is on the hunt for the fragmented powers of the NewGod war. Can the PCs put an end to a rising warlord's ambitions, or will the Lotus Blossom Steppes fall again into tribal conflict?
A strangely delivered advertisement has led you to a sage named Demetrios. He needs a rare component to complete a desperately needed potion. The journey to retrieve it will take you through a large, unexplored swamp to a ruined keep, the former headquarters of a vile cult that once claimed the lives of many innocent youths. You cautiously accept the mission... To solve the mysteries of "Baltron's Beacon," the characters must excel in handling wilderness, building ruins, traps, puzzles, and new monsters. This adventure, originally designed for tournament use, is now available for your own campaign. TSR 9152
The Maimed Virulence has come. The future of the Cinnabar Throne and the lives of the denizens of Phlan are in jeopardy. The Cult of the Dragon rejoices, and the Black Fist is powerless to stop them. How will the factions of the city respond to this threat? Can Phlan be saved this time? Part One of Under Emerald Claws. An adventure for 5th-10th level characters.
Irtep’s Dish is an adventure for characters from 6th to 8th level. This adventure requires the skills of a rogue or some other expert at traps, a cleric or character that can heal allies and offer beneficial bonuses to the team, a wizard or other master of the arcane arts, and a fighter to take care of “the heavy lifting.”
Tortles of the Purple Sage - Part 2 completes a D&D Expert Set wilderness adventure which began in DUNGEON issue #6. Through the gate stones, into the unknown. This adventure takes place in the Known World of the D&D game, as outlined throughout the D&D game rule books and modules. The DM may find it useful to consult the Companion and Masters Sets, as well as most of the X-series of Expert Set modules. The DM may find it useful to consult the Companion and Masters sets, as well as most of the X-series of Expert Set modules. Expert Set module X9, The Savage Coast, would be especially helpful, as Tortles of the Purple Sage should easily serve to continue that module's direction and plot line, adding previously undescribed areas to the Known World. The DM may also place the areas and events of this adventure within an existing campaign setting, as long as the geographical areas of the campaign match those set forth here. Pgs. 8-25