The rubble-strewn passageway twists and turns, winding ever deeper into the mountain, lower and lower into the bowels of the ancient, forbidding halls of long-dead dwarves. The torchlight flickers, threatening to succumb to the oppressive darkness. Creeping along one striated granite wall, Arikus the warrior moves cautiously toward the great cavern ahead, its sides and walls disappearing into the gloomy distance. Cocking his head to one side to listen, he holds his hand up for a moment, demanding unconditional quiet from from his companions. Then , his arm relaxing in relief, he waves everyone forward and moves into the open. Before him, scattered to the far walls of the enormous cavern, are piles upon piles of glittering treasure - coins from countless kingdoms, sparkling gems, exquisite jewelry, and items of wondrous power - enough for twenty kings' ransoms. Arikus laughs gleefully, thrusting both hands into the nearest cache of coins to let them runs through his fingers. At that moment, a monstrous shadow looms threateningly over him. Looking up, Arikus blanches and stumbles back in horror before the terrible visage of a Great Red Wyrm. The fearsome dragon opens its razor-filled maw and spews forth a gout of white-hot flame, engulfing the hapless warrior.... The ultimate Dungeon Master Fantasy! This is the most deluxe dungeon. Designed to appeal to discriminating and demanding role-players. Adventurers, beware. This is more than just a dragon hunt. Within the lair of the beast lie cruel and deadly traps, befuddling conundrums and puzzles, and cunning minions that will be the end of overconfident or careless adventurers. Comprised of three 64-page books, for two adventures that link to one super-campaign 12 full-color reference cards 16 special player handouts Eight Monstrous Compendium sheets A Sheet of cardstock standups with 24 plastic bases. Six full-color poster maps, two of which link together to make a giant tactical playing surface for use with miniatures or the included cardstock figures. TSR 1089
An omnious encounter with a fortuneteller sends a party of adventurers on a 200-mile journey across the Lands of Intrigue. While traveling throught the towns and terrain (detailed here for the first time) that lie in their path, they hear rumors and obtain clues about their mission. Their ultimate destination is Castle Spulzeer, a once proud stronghold that has become a den of terror. When the heroes enter the haunted keep, they meet a terrifying trio of residents: a madman armed with stolen magical power, a liche whose secret laboratory houses untold horrors and treasure, and a furious ghost bent on revenge. These three ensnare the party in their fight over an ancient weapon. Each will stop at nothing to keep it from the other two. The heroes must choose with whom they will ally - and the wrong choice could lead to their doom. Castle Spulzeer is an adventure complete in itself. However, as a crossover story, it offers every Dungeon Master a choice between two endings. The first leaves the party in the Realms. The second transports the characters to the Demiplane of Dread, where the plot continues in the Ravenloft adventure The Forgotten Terror. For 4 to 6 Characters of Levels 8-12 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 Castle Spulzeer, originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in digital format on the DMs Guild. Visit Classicmodulestoday.com for instructions on creating your own classic module conversions and selling them on the DMs Guild. Castle Spulzeer was originally scheduled for publication by TSR in June 1997. Then, near-bankruptcy caused a total failure of TSR's schedule, resulting in no books being published from February through the very end of July. Some books would be delayed for over a year, and others would disappear altogether, but Castle Spulzeer was relatively lucky: it was just delayed four months, until October 1997. The reason may well have been its theming, and its crossover with the Ravenloft line, which made Castle Spulzeer a great Halloween release. Castle Spulzeer has an even more far-reaching connection: its ending can lead players to the demiplane of Ravenloft and The Forgotten Terror adventure. This was probably intended as a bit of advertising for Domains of Dread (1997), the third edition of Ravenloft which was released in August 1997. In other words: in their last days, TSR was working very hard to cross-market their products, but they didn't live long enough to see the success of the Spulzeer-Intrigue-Dread connection.
There is no particular overarching story here, just a prospect gate keep dungeon you can drop into your own sandbox and run as you see fit. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
An emissary from the dwarven community of Hearth-Home approaches the player characters, beseeching them to aid the dwarves in finding a powerful mage who might bring disaster upon not only their mountain fortress, but all of the Thunder Rift! Escape from Thunder Rift adventure leads the heroes into a dark dungeon where they may discover a gate between the valley of Thunder Rift and the World of Mystara. Packaged with a DM screen. TSR 9437
Immortals lie chained atop a mountain in the Broken Lands. Their bonds relentlessly drain their power while demons cavort with glee around the wispy barrier, as strong as any prison. Have you the courage to embark on a dangerous mission for the materials necessary to craft an artifact? If you survive that task, you must then assume the Identities of legendary heroes of Darokin and face deadly Immortal foes without revealing your Immortality! The demons of Entropy stand between you and your final Goal. Have you the power to rescue the imprisoned Immortals and preserve the Prime Plane? The future of the Prime Plane is in your Hands! TSR 9189
Zhentarim traders. Shadowy figures roaming the fields near Hillsfar. How do these all relate? Everything traces back to the recently unearthed grave-barrows. Rescuing a caravan from undead attackers, the adventurers learn of an ancient danger. An Adventurer's League Four-Hour Adventure for 5th-10th Level Characters.
The Shades of Bodach Ridge Whitepeak has a dark history of black magic originating with the evil witch Skruul the Reaper. The dark rituals she conducted seemed sure to plague the region, until a plucky group of adventurers thwarted her plans sending her into a state of perpetual fractured undeath. Now souls scatter from her old haunt on Bodach Ridge. What could have set these souls free?
What good is a king without a city to rule over? What happens when everyone in a city disappears, gone without a trace? This is the state in which an adventuring party, your characters, finds Sheol in; a city devoid of all life forms, claimed by Hegemon, a Wraith that used to be its king. Explore the empty city! Be mindful of the thieves' guilds! Find your way to the portal that leads to the castle! Fight your way through the hoards of undead to foil Hegemon's insidious plan! An adventure perfect for the middle part of any campaign, full of plot hooks, possible plot points and areas of exploration! Tons of places, like the Tower of Eiden, with backstories to tie in with any existing campaign! Discover the "Hell's Gifts", red gems that defy space! This adventure offers: 30 pages of exploration of an empty city and a castle swarming with undead. Maps for major locations Two new Monsters, Hegemon and Corvus, also usable as NPCs. 3 new magic items. A plethora of plot hooks, possible plot points, and setting-neutral lore. Many hours of fun gameplay A Dungeons & Dragons adventure written for 8th level player characters, with level adjustments for levels 5-10 for the encounters.
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
The Lost Tombs, Volume 1 Derro swarm in the Abbor-Alz. The Doomgrinder windmill's blades approach their zenith. Strange sightings in Hardby and rumors of a bandit empire in the mountains have commoners and nobles concerned. The Circle of Eight hopes that the key to averting this disaster can be found in the mysteries of a group of five ancient crypts, the Star Cairns. But first someone has to find the fifth cairn.... Five separate adventure sites playable individually or linked together, The Star Cairns can provide a diversion for treasure-hungry adventurers - or can be used as the seeds for an extensive campaign. Although the adventures are designed for four to eight characters of levels 5-8, each section can be adjusted for weaker or stronger groups. TSR 9579
The Necropolis of Nuromen is a modular quest designed to let the referee introduce a group of 1st level characters to the thrills of Underworld exploration as they attempt to unravel they secrets of the evil necromancer’s lair and deal with some bandits, too. The Necropolis of Nuromen is set in a fantasy realm, beginning near the small town of Camlann Castle and leading adventurers to explore the sinister Necropolis of Nuromen. The narrative unfolds around Nuromen the Necromancer, who fell to ruin by dabbling in forbidden magic, leading to the downfall of his tower and the town known as Law's End. The adventure includes exploration of a haunted forest, encounters with various creatures, and a quest for lost treasures and magical artifacts hidden within the depths of the necropolis. To play this adventure you also require the BLUEHOLME™ Prentice Rules or the BLUEHOLME™ Journeymanne Rules. This is an updated Version of "Maze of Nuromen" from 2013.
Not long age, a magical vortex released into the lands of Thunder Rift a strange and haunted ship from another time and place. A cursed ship, bad luck for those who see it. The party never wanted to see the ship, much less board it. However, the mystical astrolabe they found must have had great power?at least enough to send them here. Too bad it's missing, now. Will the heroes find a way off the haunted ship, or are they doomed to sail strange seas forever? TSR 9436
A vast Feywild swamp slowly seethes into the mortal world, conjured by a malevolent hag. The Murkendraw's unstoppable progress widens Rotten Ethel's dominion by a few steps each day, and with it, the hag's ambition. When Rotten Ethel kidnaps the fairest pixie of all, the swamp's advance suddenly quickens. The fairy folk need brave heroes to turn back the tide and venture forth to rescue Glitterdust.
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
Corruption grows in what used to be the Dayawlongon archipelago's most sacred island. When a wanted fugitive flees to the blighted holy land, the player characters are asked to chase after and apprehend the renegade. As the adventure unfolds, it soon becomes apparent that the roots of corruption run deep. This can be run as a standalone adventure or as a sequel to the Between Tangled Roots adventure from Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. What's included? 1 infectious adventure divided into single-page sections for easy running 2 fully-colored maps with unlabeled versions for players (made with assets from 2-minute Tabletop) 3 new creature statblocks with clickable links for quick access 4+ ending variations based on what the player characters do throughout the adventure Content Warnings: Abduction, betrayal, corruption, death, disease, mental manipulation, violence
"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."
Danger Lurks in the Lendore Isles. Bands of evil creatures prowl the hills overlooking the town of Restenford. Now you have come to this sleepy little village looking for adventure and excitement. You seek to fathom the unexplored reaches of Bone Hill and unlock the mysteries of Restenford. TSR 9045
They say the legendary Ashes of Evensong have been found! In the year 689 DR, the song dragon Evensong was incinerated by Kallurous, a red dragon. In the wake of her death, Evensong’s ashes were gathered into a hundred urns by members of the Harpers. Originally intended as mere relics, the urns fell out of the Harpers’ possession when the caravan transporting them was ambushed. They were thereafter lost to history. Three months ago, stories began to circulate that at least one of the urns has been found. An artificer from the city of Elskar claims to have acquired some of Evensong’s ashes. According to his story the ashes are more potently magical than even residuum, created as they were from the mortal remains of a powerful magical creature burned to ash in the fires of an even more powerful dragon’s breath. This tale is dismissed by most, but certain factions and private interests aren’t willing to reject the possibility without investigation. If true, the artificer may be in possession of a highly dangerous and unfathomably valuable substance. More importantly, he may be in possession of the knowledge of where it came from, and the secret of what happened to the Ashes of Evensong all those centuries ago. In search of the truth behind a rumour that some of the Ashes of Evensong have been found, the player characters find that the Ashes are ultimately incidental to a far more worrying development. The trail of the Ashes leads them to the discovery of a fiend pact warlock operating among the ruling class of the city, a vault of forbidden magics the secrets of which have been breached, and a diabolic artefact about to be reclaimed in the name of a Duchess of Hell. With a focus on investigation, puzzles, and dangerous traps, Ashes of Evensong rewards players for caution and cleverness. Published by Spilled Ale Studios
The desolate, uneven country known to locals as Battlefield Downs is strewn with the scattered remains of the ancient dead. During the last terrible years of the old empire, a series of grinding military engagements played out across the rolling fields of Battlefield Downs. In one battle that was part of a wider, disastrous campaign that contributed heavily to Nerath's downfall, the Empire of Nerath's legions clashed here against ravaging gnoll packs. It is now a haunted place, where only the bravest dare to tread. Pgs. 72-79
When huge stones fall out of the night sky, A deadly curse settles over Gravencross. Help the village exorcise the Demon Stones. “The sun had set an hour ago, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled on the dark moor. A storm this late in the season was unusual, but this one seemed different. The clouds were more menacing, tinged with anger, the rain colder and more biting than usual. Skerrill had to find the lost calf and get him back to the farm before his father came back from the city on business. He’d been looking for two hours now, and he was right in the middle of the moor when the storm hit. He knew he should have turned back as soon as darkness fell, but then he was never the brightest boy in the valley. If only he had remembered to lock the farm gate. The calf was now likely dead anyway having stumbled among the boulders and rocks, panicking in the dark, and then fallen in a floodwater stream and drowned. Either way, he was in more trouble than he could imagine. Suddenly, a bright flash of white light and a roaring peal of thunder were preceded by an explosion as a huge object fell from the sky and impacted the ground of the moor no more than a stone’s throw from him. Dirt, mud, water, and debris erupted from the impact site, flying high into the air and then covering the moor for hundreds of feet all around. Skerrill was knocked to the ground instantly and covered in the fallout from the blast. His ears rang and his head spun, but he staggered to his feet in a daze. He stumbled to where the blast had happened only moments before, and in a depression in the ground lay a huge stone glowing orange as if hot. Skerrill passed out. Two more thunderous explosions crashed in the distance.”