Off in the wilderness are the ruins of a temple that once belonged to the God of Balance, Tyr. It has long been abandoned by the traditional followers, but it is certainly not empty. A few clever individuals have found a way to harness the magics that still reside deep within this holy place and are attempting to use it to give life to an Iron Golem. The party must stop them at all costs or have a powerful monstrosity released into the hands of some terrible individuals.
Listen up! You're in my dungeon now, Morty! On Earth C-141, I'm a LEGENDARY D&D adventure writer! When people think of impossibly difficult dungeons or winding, labyrinthine maps, those things ain't Gygaxian - they're SANCHEZIAN! I do whatever I want over there, and they eat it up! I'm a celebrity Dungeon Master there, too! My livestreamed show, Cynical Troll, gets a billion views a day! It seemed a little selfish to contain all that GREATNESS to a single dimension, so I lifted one of the all-time favorite Sanchezian adventures and snuck it back here to dimension C-132. (Usually that kind of s**t is frowned upon, but it's just a D&D adventure. We're not exactly violating the Prime Directive or whatever.) This is a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl for a party of 1st-level adventurers, whose character sheets in this box should also contain. They'll probably reach 3rd level by the end of it. So here it is. This adventure brought peace to a warring galaxy. What did you ever do? Oh, you picked up this adventure? Good start. And awaaaay we go!
From The Magazine: "Every summer, Duke Hightower holds a competition quite different from the traditional jousting and archery tournaments held by similar lords of his station. The rules of his tournament change from year to year, and, to oversee the games, the duke has appointed two wizard brothers who help choose the setting and create the rules and challenges of the competition. This year the competition is called the “Owlbear Run,” an overland race that requires each participating team to escort a live owlbear from the town of Telvorn to the town of Milvorn. The teams will face a variety of challenges; some are devised by the wizards, others by the competing teams or their sponsors, and some occur entirely at random. All of these tests are in addition to the challenges inherent in motivating a temperamental owlbear. Fortune and fame await the first team to cross the finish line, and the local lords sponsoring the race are eager to enlist skilled champions for their causes." Pgs. 2-27
A dangerous beast - but one with a mission. Even the gods slip up now and then, but few dare remind them of it. Ri Conn's son was killed by the white boar of Kilfay, and he has passed sentence of death upon it! What starts as a hunting expedition for the PCs ends up being a grand adventure through the forest. Several interesting set pieces on the path of the boar's rampage are included in the adventure. The path of destruction leads through a goblin camp and ends in the tower of a now-dead mage (which still holds the target of the boar's ire, a mutated bulette that the mage bred). Will the party help the boar kill the bulette mutation, or let it free? Pgs. 32-47
Eons-old secrets slumber beneath the forbidden Ghost Ice. Since the time of the Elders, the local tribes have shunned the crawling glacier, knowing it as taboo land that slays all who tread its frigid expanse. Now, the Ghost Ice has shattered, revealing hints at deeper mysteries entombed within its icy grasp. Strange machines and wonderful horrors stir beneath the ice… Frozen in Time is a level 1 adventure for any DCC RPG campaign. It also includes new material for judges who want to send their adventurers in a Stone Age setting!
When the members of The Red Drakes adventuring party go missing with precious cargo, it's up to the characters to find them before a blizzard hits. Can the group survive the grisly revelations waiting for them in the remote peaks of Frostfall Pass? The Snow Stalkers is an ice-cold horror adventure for 5th-level characters. It's a one-shot that takes about 3-5 hours to complete and includes: -A race against a deadly blizzard and abominable enemies -Three new monsters that relentlessly stalk the characters -Combat cards for each monster, PC, and special treasure -High-quality digital maps for use with virtual table tops
Sleepyhead. The only man who can stop the amphibian horde needs a wake-up call. The party must find a missing druid an bring his captures to justice. Pgs. 8-21
A pair of leprous mountain dwarves plead for the rescue of their compatriots from a deadly ettin-wight
The Licktoads, once the great and fierce goblin tribe in Brinestump Marsh, were defeated by human adventurers! All that remains of the tribe are its four goblin "heroes". Homeless and bored, they left their swampy homeland to join the neighboring goblin tribe, the Birdcrunchers. The good news is that the Birdcrunchers are willing to let the goblin heroes join their tribe. The better news is that the Birdcrunchers have heard of these four, and want one of them to become their new chieftain. The bad news is that before the goblins can join, they'll need to endure a series of dangerous and humiliating tests. Very dangerous. Very humiliating. The worse news is that lately Birdcruncher chieftains have had really short lifespans—they're being killed by the pet fire-breathing boar of a local ogre who wants the Birdcruncher land as his own. Part 2 of the We Be Goblins series.
"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."
The Characters come across an ancient wizard's tower. The nearby keep has been reduced to rubble over the ages, but the tower is in perfect condition. It is surrounded by an impenetrable force field that cannot be breached - not even by the ghost of the long-dead wizard, who has been trapped within for centuries. Surely there must be great treasure within this magical abode. But how to get to it?
The village near Oreclasp Keep has been reporting brutal owlbear attacks that have left people missing or dismembered. Lord Oreclasp has placed a bounty for every owlbear beak brought to Oreclasp Keep. The villagers don’t suspect the deeper problems brewing in the land.
Part 1 of an Expert-level quest into a hostile wilderness. 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. D&D Expert Set module X9, The Savage Coast, would be especially helpful, as Tortles of the Purple Sage could easily serve and continue that module's direction and plot like, adding a previously undescribed area (the Great Northway) 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. 40-62
Five exciting short adventures to make your Basic campaign come alive! The Clearing of Castle Caldwell - A local merchant has recently purchased a small castle... but when he tried to move in, he discovered that the castle was already inhabited! Dungeons of Terror - A strange trapdoor in the floor of Castle Caldwell leads to a terrifying challenge! The Abduction of Princess Sylvia - On the eve of her wedding, the beautiful princess has been kidnapped! Can you save her in time? The Great Escape - Imprisoned in an enemy fortress, without armor or weapons, your situation seems hopeless. Yet there may be a way to freedom... The Sanctuary of Elwyn the Ardent - A mystical chime of great power has been stolen - but by whom? In the wrong hands, the chime can cause untold harm! But can you find and defeat this mysterious and powerful creature? TSR 9143
Inspired by the "Happy Fun Ball" from the web series Critical Role, The Cube of Vanya is a magical adventure through demi-planes created by an ancient wizard, now destabilized by a malevolent dragon. The adventurers find themselves trapped within a series of themed planes with no idea how they got there. Navigating these planes to find a means of escape, they uncover the secrets of the cube while piecing back together their own memory. During the campaign the adventurers may fight shadow demons in an inn which is really a prison, flee a tornado while perched perilously in the sky, forge a weapon within a volcano, and much more. The module is structured in a non linear manner allowing the adventurers to choose their own way, or for the DM to pick and choose their favourite bits to highlight. The adventure was written with four level 5 players in mind but it would be easy to tweak for different sized groups around that level.
Agents for the Mayor of Kleine have discovered the stronghold of the Red Hand goblins deep within the Burning Hills. They have also discovered that the goblins are forming an alliance with local hobgoblin and bugbear tribes to sweep the humans out of Thunder Rift forever. The PCs must reach the lair before the hobgoblin and bugbear agents return to their own tribes. if the envoys do not return, the tribes will assume that the goblins murdered them and attack the goblins instead of the human settlements. In this way, the humans of Thunder Rift gain some unexpected allies against the Red Hand goblins. This is the most dangerous and demanding of the three adventures in this set. It is recommended that you play it after Red Hand Trail and Trouble Below. However, it can stand alone as an adventure in its own right if you wish. Part of TSR 1076 The Goblin's Lair
When local farmer Jonas Cappa goes missing while hunting mushrooms and then reappears, hours later, naked and without any of his belongings, his wife goes to the party to investigate. Jonas claims to have fallen into a hole in the ground, but none can be found. What really happened to him and can it be stopped before things get worse? (Spoiler: they are probably going to get worse). A one-shot adventure for characters of levels 1-4 designed to be dropped into any campaign, inspired by the X-Files (but firmly D&D).
The Legend of the Black Monastery Two centuries have passed since the terrible events associated with the hideous cult known as the Black Brotherhood. Only scholars and story-tellers remember now how the kingdom was nearly laid to waste and the Black Monastery rose to grandeur and fell into haunted ruins. The Brothers first appeared as an order of benevolent priests and humble monks in black robes who followed a creed of kindness to the poor and service to the kingdom. Their rules called for humility and self denial. Other religious orders had no quarrel with their theology or their behavior. Their ranks grew as many commoners and nobles were drawn to the order by its good reputation. The first headquarters for the order was a campsite, located in a forest near the edge of the realm. The Brothers said that their poverty and dedication to service allowed them no resources for more grand accommodations. Members of the Black Brotherhood built chapels in caves or constructed small temples on common land near villages. They said that these rustic shrines allowed them to be near the people they served. Services held by the Brothers at these locations attracted large numbers of common people, who supported the Black Brotherhood with alms. Within 50 years of their first appearance, the Black Brotherhood had a number of larger temples and abbeys around the kingdom. Wealthy patrons endowed them with lands and buildings in order to buy favor and further the work of the Brothers. The lands they gained were slowly expanded as the order’s influence grew. Many merchants willed part of their fortunes to the Black Brotherhood, allowing the order to expand their work even further. The Brothers became bankers, loaning money and becoming partners in trade throughout the kingdom. Within 200 years of their founding, the order was wealthy and influential, with chapters throughout the kingdom and spreading into nearby realms. With their order well-established, the Black Brotherhood received royal permission to build a grand monastery in the hill country north of the kingdom’s center. Their abbot, a cousin of the king, asked for the royal grant of a specific hilltop called the Hill of Mornay. This hill was already crowned by ancient ruins that the monks proposed to clear away. Because it was land not wanted for agriculture, the king was happy to grant the request. He even donated money to build the monastery and encouraged others to contribute. With funds from around the realm, the Brothers completed their new monastery within a decade. It was a grand, sprawling edifice built of black stone and called the Black Monastery. From the very beginning, there were some who said that the Black Brotherhood was not what it seemed. There were always hints of corruption and moral lapses among the Brothers, but no more than any other religious order. There were some who told stories of greed, gluttony and depravity among the monks, but these tales did not weaken the order’s reputation during their early years. All of that changed with the construction of the Black Monastery. Within two decades of the Black Monastery’s completion, locals began to speak of troubling events there. Sometimes, Brothers made strange demands. They began to cheat farmers of their crops. They loaned money at ruinous rates, taking the property of anyone who could not pay. They pressured or even threatened wealthy patrons, extorting money in larger and larger amounts. Everywhere, the Black Brotherhood grew stronger, prouder and more aggressive. And there was more… People began to disappear. The farmers who worked the monastery lands reported that some people who went out at night, or who went off by themselves, did not return. It started with individuals…people without influential families…but soon the terror and loss spread to even to noble households. Some said that the people who disappeared had been taken into the Black Monastery, and the place slowly gained an evil reputation. Tenant farmers began moving away from the region, seeking safety at the loss of their fields. Slowly, even the king began to sense that the night was full of new terrors. Across the kingdom, reports began to come in telling of hauntings and the depredations of monsters. Flocks of dead birds fell from clear skies, onto villages and city streets. Fish died by thousands in their streams. Citizens reported stillborn babies and monstrous births. Crops failed. Fields were full of stunted plants. Crimes of all types grew common as incidents of madness spread everywhere. Word spread that the center of these dark portents was the Black Monastery, where many said the brothers practiced necromancy and human sacrifice. It was feared that the Black Brotherhood no longer worshipped gods of light and had turned to the service of the Dark God. These terrors came to a head when the Black Brotherhood dared to threaten the king himself. Realizing his peril, the king moved to dispossess and disband the Black Brother hood. He ordered their shrines, abbeys and lands seized. He had Brothers arrested for real and imagined crimes. He also ordered investigations into the Black Monastery and the order’s highest ranking members. The Black Brotherhood did not go quietly. Conflict between the order and the crown broke into violence when the Brothers incited their followers to riot across the kingdom. There were disturbances everywhere, including several attempts to assassinate the king by blades and by dark sorcery. It became clear to everyone that the Black Brotherhood was far more than just another religious order. Once knives were drawn, the conflict grew into open war between the crown and the Brothers. The Black Brotherhood had exceeded their grasp. Their followers were crushed in the streets by mounted knights. Brothers were rounded up and arrested. Many of them were executed. Armed supporters of the Black Brotherhood, backed by arcane and divine magic, were defeated and slaughtered. The Brothers were driven back to their final hilltop fortress – the Black Monastery. They were besieged by the king’s army, trapped and waiting for the king’s forces to break in and end the war. The final assault on the Black Monastery ended in victory and disaster. The king’s army took the hilltop, driving the last of the black-robed monks into the monastery itself. The soldiers were met by more than just men. There were monsters and fiends defending the monastery. There was a terrible slaughter on both sides. In many places the dead rose up to fight again. The battle continued from afternoon into night, lit by flames and magical energy. The Black Monastery was never actually taken. The king’s forces drove the last of their foul enemies back inside the monastery gates. Battering rams and war machines were hauled up the hill to crush their way inside. But before the king’s men could take the final stronghold, the Black Brotherhood immolated themselves in magical fire. Green flames roared up from the monastery, engulfing many of the king’s men as well. As survivors watched, the Black Monastery burned away, stones, gates, towers and all. There was a lurid green flare that lit the countryside. There was a scream of torment from a thousand human voices. There was a roar of falling masonry and splitting wood. Smoke and dust obscured the hilltop. The Black Monastery collapsed in upon itself and disappeared. Only ashes drifted down where the great structure had stood. All that was left of the Black Monastery was its foundations and debris-choked dungeons cut into the stones beneath. The war was over. The Black Brotherhood was destroyed. But the Black Monastery was not gone forever. Over nearly two centuries since its destruction, the Black Monastery has returned from time to time to haunt the Hill of Mornay. Impossible as it seems, there have been at least five incidents in which witnesses have reported finding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread reports of madness, crime and social unrest in the kingdom. Sometimes, the monastery has appeared only for a night. The last two times, the monastery reappeared atop the hill for as long as three months…each appearance longer than the first. There are tales of adventurers daring to enter the Black Monastery. Some went to look for treasure. Others went to battle whatever evil still lived inside. There are stories of lucky and brave explorers who have survived the horrors, returning with riches from the fabled hordes of the Black Brotherhood. It is enough to drive men mad with greed – enough to lure more each time to dare to enter the Black Monastery.
A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 4th-level characters, this volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path is part 2 of 6 of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, in which the heroes win and defend a small kingdom from threats foreign and domestic. PCs should advance to 7th level by the end of this adventure. The PCs receive a shipment of funds, materials, and colonists from Brevoy and beyond, along with instructions to build a town and attract more pioneers to their nascent country. Having already explored the northern reaches of their new domain, the PCs must now venture into the wilds to bring the rule of law to the south. Wicked fey inhabiting a ruined keep, undead haunting an ancient barrow mound, and others must be defeated to make the region ever more secure. Along the way, the PCs might also have the opportunity to ally themselves with some of the region’s local residents, including the dryad druid Tiressia, her satyr consort Falchos, and a band of gnome explorers called the Narthropple Expedition. In addition, the PCs will be called upon to mediate between two rival factions in the area: a group of independent loggers and the angry fey sorceress who opposes them. As they explore, evidence that a group of trolls is stirring up trouble in the region becomes apparent. Meanwhile, the PCs must deal with events within their burgeoning kingdom—a rabble rouser seeks to oust the PCs from their positions of power, the secretive cult of the hag goddess Gyronna has infiltrated the town, and a werewolf is preying on the townsfolk. All of these events build to the adventure’s twin climaxes: the sudden assault on their capital city by an owlbear of unprecedented size and the expansion of Hargulka’s trolls into the north. Faced with danger on multiple fronts, the PCs must draw upon all of their resources and bravery to become the undisputed rulers of the Greenbelt.
This adventure takes place in the Moonsea of Faerûn. The players have been brought to Melvaunt to search for the missing scions of the city's great families. To the north, in Thar the orc tribes converge on the ruined fortress of Xul-Jarak, flocking to the banner of a charismatic warlord. There, he intends to sacrifice the scions of the great families of Melvaunt in a bloodritual to Gruumsh. The players will escape Melvaunt, search along the wilderness of Thar for the Fortress of Xul-Jarak, and then explore the dungeons of the ruined fortress and hopefully rescue the scions before they are sacrificed. There also is a Web Enhancement by Eric Cagle on the archives of wizards of the coast's website designed to scale the adventure to level 8. For example, it replaces the Owlbear with a Tyrannosaurus. This is an easy to scale adventure with much of the player's difficulty coming from intelligently avoiding problems, choosing how to approach each floor in the most tactical way, and quickly adjusting when something goes wrong. The adventure has sidebars including common orc battle cries (In Orc!), ready to use orc names, weather and random encounter table in Thar, a description of what happens if the party fails or partially succeeds, and suggested minis for each of the encounters. There is even an extended description of the bloodspear ritual, an event the party is not meant to encounter in a normal run. The appendix is detailed for all the humanoid characters including the scions and their equipment, the named villains, and variety of unnamed orcs the party will encounter. The fortress also offers an opportunity to introduce the players to the Underdark and the Zhentil Keep. There is a passage to the Underdark the players can accidentally explore, and return to later. Emissaries from Zhentil Keep have come to watch the ritual and have their own motivations. These npcs provide an opportunity for exposition and role playing at a point which otherwise might be combat heavy, acting as a valve for the first floor - helping or hurting the party with subtle magic should the difficulty be off.