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.
What's waiting for you at the bottom? Adventurers are more than welcome - they're nourishment! Pgs. 4-15
The ancient world of Harth withers beneath its dying sun…but it’s not dead yet. Welcome to the strange and dangerous city of Carcassay, huddled below the skeleton of a titan rat, sprawling above the ruins of countless dead civilizations. This is where folk come to find wealth, power, revenge, secrets, oblivion… and everything in between. Carcassay is a sandbox city adventure. There are many locations to explore in, around, and under the city. Players can explore any place at any time, and may radically reshape the city’s politics, economy, religions, and physical existence. There are standard dungeons stacked under the city, and GMs are encouraged to keep adding more dungeons… all the way down. Tone. It leans more toward low fantasy or sword-and-sorcery. Most shops look like real shops. Most people look like real people. But strange and horrible things lurk everywhere as soon as you start to scratch the surface. This is my Lankhmar. Carcassay is a vast, bizarre city. It has over 100 locations where you can meet Chaos cultists, Lawful knights, retired adventurers, shopkeepers, brewers, musicians, artists, scientists, hermits, royalty, beggars, doctors, space vampires, eldritch horrors, machine priests, crab colonists, mushroom farmers, mummies, assassins, and diplomats from distant lands… and the moon. And every one of them has goods or services to sell, and a quest (or three) to offer. What sort of quests? Fetch a relic, assassinate a rival, find a relative, steal a soul, implant an agent, cure a disease, stop a riot, solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet, hunt a thief, locate a shrine… the list goes on. And for every Quest, there is a specific Reward: money, weapons, relics, Chaos mutations, exclusive memberships, information, Angelic miracles… the list goes on. This is a place where you can make a lot of money, but also where you can spend that money on interesting goods and services. Factions? We have a few. Seven Chaos cults, five knightly orders, two mercenary companies, four wealthy families, six (seven!) Corpse Lords, foreign diplomats, rival innkeepers, rival tavern owners, plus all the dungeon-delving gangs currently mucking about underground. When you grow weary of all the adventures at ground level, there are three classic dungeons buried under the city to explore. This book contains months (if not years) of campaigning. Enjoy the Chaos.
The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins here, in the small coastal town of Sandpoint. Five years after a tragic fire and spate of brutal murders, the people of Sandpoint eagerly anticipate the Swallowtail Festival to commemorate the consecration of the town's new temple. At the height of the ceremony, disaster strikes! In the days that follow, a sinister shadow settles over Sandpoint. Rumors of goblin armies and wrathful monsters in forgotten ruins have set the populace on edge. As Sandpoint's newest heroes, the PCs must deal with treachery, goblins, and the rising threat of a forgotten empire whose cruel and despotic rulers might not be as dead as history records.
The city of Stonewood has seen a number of strange disturbances of late: grave robbings, disappearances, and recently a spate of murders. Adair Wyatt, a local merchant, has asked you to help him find his missing brother Dayton. His last known whereabouts? Stonewood's necropolis, where he works as a gravedigger... The Graveyard Shift is the first in the Adventure on Tap series. The adventure centers on the city of Stonewood but can easily be transferred to any medium or large settlement as long as there is a graveyard nearby and access to a local forest. The adventure was designed to have an equal balance of combat, exploration, puzzle, and role-playing encounters.
In the village of Elventree, near the oppressive city of Hillsfar, a recent string of strange occurrences has the locals on edge. The factions have gathered here on the borders of the forest of Cormanthor to determine what’s happening. Are these the machinations of Hillsfar, or something more?
In “Rescue at Rivenroar,” the player characters must brave the depths of ancient catacombs in search of prisoners taken from the town of Brindol in a midnight raid. The hobgoblins, bandits that style themselves after an invading horde from long ago, have taken refuge in a dungeon under a ruined mountain fortress, and the PCs must clear them out to find the captive townsfolk and the treasures taken from Brindol. “Rescue at Rivenroar” also marks the first step in a great journey - the Scales of War Adventure Path, which spans 30 levels and put the PCs at the crux of events that shapes the world for centuries to come. While the scope of this adventure isn’t as grand, it represents the seed from which an epic tale will surely grow. Pgs. 4-45
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).
Nightmare of Blood! The village of Karvolia has paid its annual tribute of blood to the Red Goddess—but this year, none of the donors returned. Now the priestess commands the village elders to send another dozen young men and women to the edifice of stone that looms on the cliffs overlooking the village: the dreaded Blood Vaults. The terrified elders are willing to pay adventurers handsomely to find a way to make this second tribute pass them by. Unfortunately, the latest set of donors has already entered the Blood Vaults, and are being prepared for the donation process…
High in the Stonecrown Mountains, a new source of dark magic stirs, wakes, and spreads its wings to shroud the land in shadows. The Warlock of the Stonecrowns, an awnshegh regent who is as evil as he is powerful, is draining other regents' sources of magical power, choking their ability to cast the most powerful form of magic of all - realm magic! If that isn't enough, the Warlock threatens to close the only pass connecting the trade-kingdom of Cariele to the rest of Anuire. An army of orogs and ogres is gathering to the Warlock's banner: Are your heroes equal to the challenge of the twisted magic of the Warlock of the Stonecrowns? This open-ended, "adjustable" BIRTHRIGHT adventure is suitable for use with either mid-level (4-6) or high-level (7-10) player characters. TSR 3110
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.
"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."
Far out in the void, an ancient city of vampires endures. Welcome to Araveshti, a city of a thousand towers floating safely in the shadow of the world, glittering with starlight, thrumming with ancient magics, and crawling with vicious immortals. Will you seek to destroy these bloodthirsty aristocrats? Or will you help them pursue their bizarre alchemical experiments in immortality? Or will you simply seek a way to escape their twisted and crumbling paradise? Within these ancient towers, adventurers will find vampire lords and servants, zealots and goliaths, as well as werewolves, mycotic zombies, victims of strange experimentation, fanatical holy knights, tragic vampire hunters in black, shipwrecked dreamers, castaway aliens, metal angels, eldritch horrors, star dragons, and (of course) the vampires' giant dragon-killing mecha suit... This is a dark sandbox. Players will explore a vast city of undead people and monsters in outer space, full of homages to classic horror and science fiction films and literature. ADVENTURE TYPE: Mid Level / Combat / Exploration / Dark Fantasy / Fantasy City / Gothic Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for mid-level characters around Level 5-10 Players explore a large vampire city in space, encounter numerous NPCs and monsters, and engage with diverse factions to destroy, conquer, or escape from the city 40+ unique encounter locations, plus countless randomly generated locations 100+ original magic items 40+ original monsters One city map Estimated play time: 1-8 sessions (4-32 hours)
"Put those dark elves back in their box and get your gonzo on! Riches, glory, and super-science await the bold and the clever in the deep places under the ground. This module describes the dinosaur- and wizard-infested future of the Earth, the city of Denethix, and the first level of the megadungeon that beckons from below: the Anomalous Subsurface Environment." Set in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth's remains are explored through dungeons filled with ancient tech, magic, and bizarre ecosystems, inhabited by various factions with their own agendas. This setting blends sci-fi and fantasy with a touch of the absurd, offering a playground for imaginative gameplay and storytelling. The module includes a gatehouse and the first level of the Anomalous Subsurface Environment, each designed with multiple pathways. Unique twists on monsters and magic items. Written for Labyrinth Lord
Freeport's in crisis, as war breaks out on the high seas and orcs riot in the streets. A map promises the biggest haul of booty in history, but nothing is as it seems. Buried with that treasure is a terrifying evil Freeport thought banished forever. Black Sails Over Freeport, the first mega-adventure for the award-winning pirate city, is filled with enough swashbuckling challenges to test the mettle of any band of heroes. Its 256 pages are packed with action, intrigue, and danger, delivered with the style and professionalism you've come to expect from Green Ronin. Black Sails are on the horizon. Do you have what it takes to face them?
An investigation into a wizard's disappearance leads to tangles with an unusual mermaid soothsayer and her obedient servitors, a tattoo-covered magical ghoul, and the deadliest necromancer the city of Marsember has ever known. Pgs. 34-53
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
The ancient world of Harth is dying, but you’re going to die even sooner if you can’t escape from Frostwyck. You’re lost in a frozen forest of deadly predators and mysterious recluses. Your only refuge is the tiny village of Frostwyck, where metal is rare and kindness is rarer. And there are worse things in the shadows than mere bloodthirsty beasts. Witches haunt the groves of the north. Most keep to themselves, content to guard their secrets and powers. But one torments them all. Dama Zhadna has cursed the village so that none can escape. And now you’re trapped here. You’re going to die here... ...unless you can escape from the Witches of Frostwyck. Just a few things players can do: - Escape from a prison barge - Free demon souls from a giant spider-house - Find a charming witch-lord hiding with his pet dragon - Evade a merciless warrior zealot who is hunting them - Discover the ancient secrets of the Elder Fey - Collect the "cunning tools" created by the hedge witches - Collect the eldritch weapons crafted by the ancient elves - Save a little girl made of snow Intense Factions! Will you help the Temple of Virune to eradicate the last of the witches? Will you help the witch-lords retake power over the north? Will you help the Gray Sisters protect the village from the dangers of the forest? Or will you venture underground and help the Elder Fey to escape their prison and take their revenge? Four New Mentors! While in Frostwyck, players can meet many skilled NPCs who might be willing to train a worthy adventurer. If you can complete 3 days of training, you can learn one of 16 skills from either a Hunter, a Fighter, a Priest, or a Witch. New PC Background: The Vulgoth Hedge Witch! In addition to some unusual medicinal gear, select one of 6 creatures of the northern forest as your familiars, as well as one of 6 "cunning" items that you enchanted (and might explode in your face!).
The sudden appearance of the undead within Port Nyanzaru doesn’t appear to be the only thing on the horizon. A vast horde of skeletons and zombies is moving towards the city and while those of means are safe within the city’s walls, those in the Old City and Malar’s Throat are forced to contend with the problem. Where did they come from? More importantly, what are you going to do to find out? Part Two of The Rot from Within Trilogy.
A sickness has come unto the simple mining community of Duvik’s Pass, poisoning their wells and blighting their crops. With the pestilence leaving the strongest men of the town’s guard a few short days away from death, the burden of descending into the mines and purging the wellspring of whatever evil has settled there falls to an intrepid band of adventurers. Can these noble heroes prevail within the depths of Duvik’s Pass, or will they too fall victim to the perils of The Burning Plague? The Burning Plague is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure designed for a party of four to six characters of 1st level. Dungeon Masters (DMs) should feel free to adjust the adventure as necessary to accommodate groups not falling within this range. However, given the fairly low power level of the inhabitants of the mines at Duvik’s Pass, it should be noted that parties consisting of 20 or more total levels are unlikely to find satisfactory challenge within The Burning Plague.