Why should anyone travel the cracked cobblestones of the Old Road? The fortress that once cast its shadow across the road does so no longer - some whisper that the earth swallowed the fortress whole in an age long past. Four brave adventurers resolved to discover the truth and set off down the Old Road, but they never returned. This adventure is a first level adventure for beginning players set in the dungeon of the fallen fortress.
A free adventure for the Pathfinder RPG, focusing upon a city ravaged by a natural disaster and besieged on all sides. Party levels 4-5 will face off against a half-dragon, half-demon overlord known as Ymial, a demonic seductress, goblin warbands, and drow slavers beneath the ground all while trying to discover the secrets of the city of Fairhaven. Works well for players who are looking to visit a large town and face off in a high-stakes conflict even at low levels. Includes lots of details on the town, from rumors to residents.
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.
On a busy day in the marketplace, something hurtles down out of a clear sky. When the dust clears, you c can see that it's a ship's anchor, attached to a rope that stretches up as far as you can see. What do you do? Pull you AD&D game players up the rope and into the astounding universe of fantasy space! Send their spacegoing galleon, the Skyrunner, across the vast reaches of Wildspace. Drop them in the Hive, the largest dungeon ever created. Then pit them against the Ravager, a monster that threatens the characters' entire homeworld! TSR 9273
WE-1: Red Dawn: An Eberron adventure about the end of the world. The year is 1019 YK, and the world is ending. Twenty-three years ago, the nations that were once Galifar signed the Treaty of Thronehold and ended the Last War. Now, the drums of war rumble once again. The peace that lasted a generation is threatened, and Eberron may go to war once again. As a member of the Scions of the Second Dawn, a secretive order dedicated to studying the Draconic Prophecy, this is merely background to you. Or, it was, until the eve of your initiation as full Scions. You emerged from the rite to find your monastery destroyed, bandits looting it, and all your friends and allies slain. You are the last survivors of your order, and the world is ending. You cannot stop the end of the world. But you can rebuild it. Can you escape the wreck of your secret order’s monastery, journey across the mountains in winter, search the mountain valley to unlock the cipher, and discover how to rebuild the world? Or will your frozen bodies join those of your fellows? Will you fall to fatalism and ennui, or will you fight to save what can be saved and rebuild what can be rebuilt? Find out, in the light of this RED DAWN.
When Harrowstone Prison burned to the ground, prisoners, guards, and a host of vicious madmen met a terrifying end. In the years since, the nearby town of Ravengro has shunned the fire-scarred ruins, telling tales of unquiet spirits that wander abandoned cellblocks. But when a mysterious evil disturbs Harrowstone’s tenuous spiritual balance, a ghostly prison riot commences that threatens to consume the nearby village in madness and flames. Can the adventurers discover the secrets of Harrowstone and quell a rebellion of the dead? Or will they be the spirit-prison’s next inmates?
The village of Haven-Fara has a problem - it's been overrun with spiders that have been forced out of their nearby lair. Yet could this spider problem be merely a symptom of something worse to come? When the backwater town of Haven-Fara wakens under a thick blanket of webs to find half its populace missing, its up to the PCs to descend into a silk-chambered nest of the arachnid abductors. In a vertical maze of web-lined tunnels, they discover a dying queen, a legendary treasure, and a secret that could change Haven-Fara forever. Pgs. 14-20 & 22-28 & 30, 32 and 34
The Mummy's Mask Adventure Path begins with "The Half-Dead City," an exciting new adventure in the pyramid-laden realm of Osirion, Land of Pharaohs! In the city of Wati, the church of Pharasma holds a lottery allowing explorers to delve the tombs of the city's vast necropolis in search of the nation's lost glories. In the course of investigating dusty tombs and fighting their ancient guardians and devious traps, the heroes encounter a group of rival adventurers intent on keeping one tomb's treasures for themselves. At the same time, the heroes learn that a dangerous artifact has been stolen from the tomb. Can the adventurers defeat their rivals, or will they fall to the undead defenders of the city's necropolis?
The End of the World Is at Hand! A hideous death cult has seized control of an ancient artifact-monument known as Tovag Baragu. The power behind the cult is the Old One himself, Iuz the Evil, demonic master of an empire. He's on an all-or-nothing quest for supremacy over the world—and the heavens beyond. To stop him, heroes must face horrors never dreamed of, journeying to a shadowed city where Death rules and the living cower. Here, Iuz will achieve his mad dream by destroying the imprisoned master of that alien citadel: Vecna, the mightiest lich, an immortal demigod. Two items exist with the power to stop Iuz—the Eye and the Hand of Vecna—but using them carries fantastic risks. Not even the gods know what will be unleashed when these items are fully activated. Die Vecna Die! takes the heroes from the Greyhawk campaign to the demiplane of Ravenloft and then to the Planescape city of Sigil. However, none of the material from those settings is required for play. TSR 11662
Special Basic/Expert Transition Module Barely one day's march from Kelven, the uncharted tracts of the Dymrak forest conceal horrors enough to freeze the blood of civilized folk. Those who have ventured there tell how death comes quick to the unwary - for the woods at night are far worse than any dungeon. But you are adventurers, veterans of many battles, and the call of the wild is strong. Will you answer the call, or are you afraid of the dark terrors of the night? The campaign adventure is for characters just beginning Expert play (levels 2-4) and hurls them into the exciting outdoor world which awaits in the Expert rulebook. With a 64 page booklet, 2 double-panel covers, a double-sided, fold-out mapsheet and 120 die-cut counters, this super module provides all you need for epic wilderness and dungeon adventuring. Journey across the Grand Duchy of Karameikos in a desperate race against time and the forces of evil. This adventure is for use with the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set, which continues and expands the D&D Basic Rules. This adventure cannot be played without the D&D Basic and Expert rules produced by TSR inc. TSR 9149
From the magazine: "A rotting ship holds the secrets of all the universe, but its crew wants you only for the 'fuel' you carry." This scenario is useful for launching players into a Spelljammer campaign. The players are tasked with investigating a derelict ship that fell from the sky. The ship is captained by a spectre and crewed by a host of undead enemies. Clearing the ship gives the players the possibility of a Spelljammer ship as well as access to several wheel-lock pistols and ammunition (the biggest treasure from the adventure). The adventure takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, though it may be easily altered to fit any other campaign world. Module LC1 Gateway to Ravens Bluff, The Living City, would be helpful, as the city of Ravens Bluff is suggested as the PCs' starting point for this adventure. Any other city can be substituted without difficulty. Pgs. 29-37
A new megadungeon from Three Castles Award Winner (2018) and Barrowmaze author Dr. Greg Gillespie! HighFell: The Drifting Dungeon is a 246-page classic megadungeon for use with any old school fantasy role-playing games/clone. The pages of HighFell are crammed full with new material, maps, and art, including a colour cover by Ex-TSR artist Erol Otus (that matches Barrowmaze Complete and The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia as sister-books). HighFell: The Drifting Dungeon will keep your players on their toes and your campaign going strong for years. HighFell is brought to you by the Old School Renaissance (so don’t forget your 10’ pole).
Adventures in Hawk's Rest is a love letter to low-level D&D: Studio Ghibli meets the Shire meets Lost Mine of Phandelver. An open-world hexcrawl for characters of 1st to 2nd level, Hawk's Rest is intended as a prologue to a longer campaign, with seven keyed adventure sites and fantastic maps by Dungeon Baker (How to Defend Your Lair, The Lazy DM's Companion). Hawk's Rest is written for new and veteran players alike but avoids the usual pitfalls associated with 1st-level adventures: not only are encounters balanced to avoid character death, but most combats can be avoided entirely with clever roleplaying.
Local villagers whisper of a mysterious place deep in the marsh - a place shrouded in mist and dotted with barrow mounds, ruined columns, and standing stones. The tomb-robbers who explore beneath the mounds - or rather the few who return - tell tales of labyrinthine passages, magnificent grave goods, and terrifying creatures waiting in the dark. Are you brave (or foolish) enough to enter Barrowmaze? Barrowmaze Complete (BMC) is a classic megadungeon for use with any old school fantasy role-playing game. BMC includes everything in Barrowmaze I and II in the same book in addition to new material, art, layout, and cover art by Ex-TSR artist Erol Otus. Barrowmaze Complete will keep your players on their toes and your campaign going strong. BMC is brought to you by the Old School Renaissance (so don’t forget your 10’ pole). This edition includes art by the aforementioned TSR artists Erol Otus, as well as Tim Truman, Jim Holloway. New old-school artists include Peter Pagano, Cory Hamel, Stefan Poag, Zhu Bajie, Stephan Thompson, and others.
Cleric's Challenge is a one-on-one AD&D adventure, made specifically for a Cleric character. Pommeville is a sleepy little town that seems like a good place to stay for the night. That is, until the dead rise from their graves and begin terrorizing the village! Ancient evil threatens to overwhelm the good folk of Pommeville unless someone can find a way to comfort the restless dead. A lone, player character cleric will have to be clever, courageous, and more than a little lucky to solve the mystery and save Pommeville from the mindless zombies that threaten it! TSR 9429
Far in the future, bards sing tales of kings and conquerors from ages past - but from your present. The Hero-Kings of legend are your player characters from your campaign, who even now shape the course of Cerilian history. More than simply an adventure collection, this 160-page book enables you, the Dungeon Master, to turn ordinary domain actions into oppurtunites for heroic exploits. Each of the eleven "legends" set forth here is based on a different random event from the BIRTHRIGHT Rulebook. Don't allow a mere die roll to decide the outcome of a blood challenge, rebellion, intrigue, or magical event - make the PCs forge their own destinies by confronting a madman who is "Blood Hungry," wresting the "Fang of Kriesha" from its evil wielder's grasp, thwarting a rival regent's "Double Dealing," and saving all of Cerilia from "The Gift of Azrai." These adventures are suitable for PCs of all levels and classes - wheter regents, scions, or commoners - and can take place wherever you campaign is set. This book also includes an appendix that offers advice for running different types of BIRTHRIGHT campaigns and creating your own adventures fit for a king. TSR 3125
Join the adventure in the free city of Taux! Written as a narrative piece to help incorporate game play into the shared world anthology series Tales of the Emerald Serpent, this adventure for semi-experienced characters will put you on the run from the most powerful and notorious family in Taux. Can the characters write their own story and join the legends of Black Gate with the help of iconic personas made famous in Tales of the Emerald Serpent and A Knight in the Silk Purse. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.
*THIS IS A D&D NEXT/5E PLAYTEST ADVENTURE* Imani, a Turmishan wizard and former adventurer, seeks the aid of heroes to infiltrate Dretchroyaster’s lair and recover the Diamond Staff of Chomylla—the key to powerful magic and wisdom locked away for thousands of years. In addition to his own sagely interest in the lore of lost Uvaeren, Imani recognizes the dangers of such powerful magic falling into evil hands. The dracolich has secured the staff in his lair’s cen- tral chamber, using ancient wards of protection that can be bypassed only by four artifact-idols once belong- ing to a cult of Bhaal. Each group of adventurers enters the dungeon through a different section of the dun- geon—a forgotten temple of Bhaal, a vast underground lake, a troglodyte village, or Dretchroyaster’s vaults. Dretchroyaster’s lair is no simple set of caverns and ancient ruins. It sits atop a source of great power and energy, which the dracolich and his Cult of the Dragon allies hope to use to unlock the secrets of the staff. Only by undertaking a unified assault against Dretchroyas- ter’s lair can the adventurers hope to recover the Diamond Staff and survive the dracolich’s fury. The adventurers must make their way through the lair and recover the Bhaalite idols that will help unlock the Diamond Staff, all the while dealing with the lair’s creatures and avoiding the dracolich as he pur- sues intruders. Entering the Chamber of the Diamond Staff, the heroes must overcome its magical wards and claim the staff before being slain by the dracolich and his servants.
Introduction No frills, here. No fancy charts and tables. No art to dazzle your eyes. Just a crawl; that happens to have a bit of a background, and a (group)death-dealing Bad Ass! waiting for the characters. How you run it is your business. What you delete, exchange out/in or modify is up to you. You can be as kind and patient with the players as you like, or let the chips fall (dice roll) where they may. You can allow pre-rolled characters, provide pre-gens yourself, or let the players bring their own, favorite character they have worked hard to get to the levels indicated; remind them, if the latter, that character-death is part of the game! I issue only the following comment: if run as it is laid out , it is nearly certain that at least one character, and as many as all of them, might die during the adventure.
In a small hamlet, things are strangely becoming tidy in the night. Far from being pleased, the citizens are alarmed by these events. A local painter has gone missing, as has a travelling scholar. What is going on here?