Something's not right in the hamlet of Verdinica. Why do the locals wear such thick clothing, even in the midst of a heart and muggy summer? And what sort of "prisoners" could make the strange, sloshing noises that are heard some nights coming from the gaol? Pgs. 38-57
A short adventure for the Midnight campaign setting from Fantasy Flight Games. The adventurers must contact a recently-captured resistance fighter to uncover the identity of a traitor.
This module is designed for characters who have made their way through the Freeport Trilogy. Characters new to Freeport are at disadvantadge, however. Hell in Freeport sends the characters to the depths of the Hell as pawns of an undead duke. When they discover the truth of their mission, they must race against a sinister clock to save two cities. Act 1 kicks off with a battle against a cornugon on the Freeport docks. The characters are hailed as heroes for defeating the fiend, and are summoned to the Church of Retribution to help in the battle against Hell. Tee old inquisitor who greets them is actually Jalie Squarefoot, an infernal lich who took this form to search for the perfect cat's-paw. Squarefoot wants to take the souls of Freetown, a city in Hell, but must first get around a contract poin: he can't take the city until the Tyre tower clock-now stopped- strikes midnight. He sends the party to Devil's Cry, an inslan off the coast of Freeport, with instructions to close the gate to Hell hidden inside. In truth, he knows the party will be transported straight to the Third Circle when they try. Inside Devil's Cry the party finds the remnants of a great battle fought between an invading devil's army and the Church of Retribution, and battle their way past undead defenders until they reach the gate itself and unwittingly trigger it. Act 2 begins with the party in a twin of the complex they explored in Devil's Cry, but now they are deep in Hell. They fight their way back to the cavern entrance, only to find that they are not on the Prime anymore. When they voyage back their homeport, they instead find themselves in Freetown, a city of scaped slaves in a dark mirror image of Freeport. Once in Freetown, they make the acquaintance of the city's mayor Wycleffe-a servant of Jalie Squarefoot-who persuades them to go on a quest to Tyre to restart the tower clock. They travel the Styx to the Eight Circle and fight their way into a long-buried vity, and then into the tower clock itself. They restart the clock and begin the trip home, but are waylaid by devils and taken prisioner. Act 3 opens with the party naked and in chains in the infernal prison called the Forge. They learn that Jalie Squarefoot and Wycleffe have duped them, and that the supposed rebels of Freetown are actually its protectors. The characters must escape or win their freedom in the gladiator pits before the tower clock they restarted destroys both Freetown and their home city of Freeport. They battle back to Freetown, taking revenge on their captors in the process, and capture the city from Wycleffe with the help of the rebels. Finally it falls to the PCs to enter the tower clock and stop it and Jalie Squarefoot before the fiend's plan can come to fruition. After being tricked and manipulated throughout the adventure, the party finally has their revenge on the duke and his minions.
Magical soul gems have been stolen from the secret vault of the goddess of death and scattered across the planes. Some want these gems to unlock the secrets of the multiverse. Others want them for personal power. Still others want them to resurrect a fallen deity. As the god of oblivion looms near, can the PCs retrieve the gems from their new owners in time to save their world? Beyond the Vault of Souls is a planar adventure for 9th-level characters, compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game. Within you’ll visit the Eternal City of Axis, brave the dangers of the Abyss, and match wits with the torturer daemons of Abaddon. This adventure is set in the Outer Sphere of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, but can easily be placed in the strange planes and dimensions of any game world. It can be used on its own or enhanced with information from The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse.
A long, perilous ocean journey behind them, the crew of the Sea Wyvern finds itself shipwrecked on the Isle of Dread. Their destination lies well over 150 miles to the south, miles heavy with the threat of the island's terrible inhabitants. Yet the unknown enemies are far more sinister, for more than just dinosaurs hunt the vast jungles. Before long, a cunning fiend picks up their trail, and its duplicitous master demands their sacrifice. "Here There Be Monsters" is the fourth chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #352 of Dragon explores the Isle of Dread in detail, providing a complete ecology of the island and the writing of Larissa Vanderboren. This article can be used as a player handout to represent the journals the group recovered from the Vanderboren family vault in the first adventure in the Campaign. Shipwrecked on the Isle of Dread! Faced with a dangerous journey, the PCs must escort a ragged band of castaways through monster-infested wildlands in order to reach the safety promised by the colony of Farshore on the isle’s southern tip. Pgs. 32-60
When an ill-favored orb drops from the sky and devastates the countryside, only the PCs stand between an ambitious wizard, a cult of dragons, and a dark ambition that could bring an army of fiendish wyrms into your campaign world! "The screams became overpowered by the sound of the terrible falling star--a black orb of malign energy hurled from the firmament in the dead of night. In that instant, the village of Rhale was utterly destroyed, reduced to a hollow crater of flaming decay. Now, frightened talk of a dark presence descended from above has taken root, though none can put name to the faceless fear that might reside within this terrible orb." While traveling the countryside, the player characters witness an explosive event - the falling of a meteor into a distant hillside. Soon thereafter, they encounter several mercenaries menacing some refugees. From them, the PCs can learn, that a group of dragon worshippers called the Black Covenant are in the area and intend to use the fallen star for their own nefarious purposes. Upon arriving at the crater, the PCs find that the falling star is in fact a massive sphere of iron with an opening in its side. They enter the sphere to find a small complex of rooms protected by numerous traps and guardians. They also battle several members of the Black Covenant, until they make their way to the heart of the complex, where they discover the source of the Covenant's interest in the Black Egg, they try to use it to create a half-fiend red dragon. The PCs must succeed if they wish to prevent the creation of an army of fiendish dragons. Lot's of monstrous NPCs with class levels and templates for enemies (half-black dragon orc warriors level 7, for example) are used in this adventure. Pgs. 57-78
Despite the bitter cold that reigns here nine months of the year, the Timberway Forest has long been a source of prosperity for civilized folk who live nearby. Many trappers and hunters spend the better part of the year within its borders, stockpiling furs and meat to trade in the frontier towns to the south, where they spend their winters. Most feel that the value of these commodities makes braving the Timberway Forest worth the risk. Recently, though, a small group of trappers and hunters has awakened a terrible new menace in the forest. Based in a remote hunter's abode called the Bluerock Lodge, they hunted the animals of the woods more out of a deep-seated desire to be cruel than a need to feed themselves. In particular, they focused their hateful attention on the local Timberway lion population. Timberway lions are rather small (more like leopards), but they are known for being lithe and wary. Still, the trappers had the advantage of intelligence and tools, and before long they had slaughtered the entire pride save for its leader. As the winter worsened and game grew ever more scarce, this last surviving lion began to starve. At that point, the darker forces of nature took notice, and the Timberway Forest gained a predator like no other. Frozen Whispers is a short D&D adventure for four 3rd-level player characters (PCs). The scenario is set mostly in and near a remote hunter’s lodge in a snowy forest. The scenario can be placed in any cold area of your campaign world that features a remote tract of woodland—a copse of trees near the arctic circle, a swath of taiga near the treeline on a high mountainside, or even a normally temperate forest caught in the grip of an unnaturally snowy winter. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
Designed as an Introduction to the world of Eberron and is intended for a party of four 1st-level characters. This adventure takes place in Sharn, the city of Towers. It begins, as many incidents in the City of Towers do, with a corpse. A warforged assassin, a mysterious blank book, and an offer from a House Cannith heir leads the adventures into the depths of Sharn--eventually to an ancient ruin dating back to before the creation of the Kingdom of Galifar. Along the way, if the adventures are successful, they recover a lost schema--a part of a pattern used by artificers to craft magic items. They also learn that many different agencies are interested in this relic, including those loyal to the various House Cannith elders and agents of the infamous Lord of Blades. Pgs. 307 - 317
Though small, Seawell is a prosperous trading town with a good location on the coast. Next to it is a long peninsula that features mostly swamplike terrain. The inhabitants of this peninsula include tribes of lizardfolk, plus several kinds of reptiles and amphibians. Most of these creatures don't bother the town, and Seawell's militia is experienced at repulsing raids by the more aggressive lizardfolk. A large reef extends the entire length of the peninsula on the side away from Seawell. This great wall of coral is a favorite site for fishermen, but it has always presented a serious hazard to ships approaching from that direction. Thus, about 45 years ago, the people of Seawell built a lighthouse on a small promontory near the reef, about 200 yards from the shoreline. Operated by a family that lived inside it, this lighthouse ensured that ships could easily steer clear of the reef. A few weeks ago, ships stopped arriving from that direction. Three ships are now overdue, and the people of Seawell have begun to suspect foul play. Thus far, however, they have not been able to investigate because of increased raiding by the lizardfolk. Something has stirred them up, and the town militia has been too busy repulsing raids to mount an expedition to the reef. Wreck Ashore is a short D&D adventure for four 1st level player characters (PCs). The scenario takes place on and around a swampy peninsula that juts out from a longer stretch of coastline. Along one side of this peninsula stretches a dangerous reef. Just offshore on the reef side stands a lighthouse built to warn ships of the danger. At the base of the peninsula on the side away from the reef is a small port town called Seawell.
The crown of the kobold king will be anointed in blood. Five children from the town of Falcon’s Hollow have gone missing, dragged off into ruins underneath a cursed dwarven monastery. Soon they will be sacrificed to the crown, all to the glory of the twisted King of the Kobolds. If they are to be saved from this gruesome fate, brave heroes must follow their trail to the monastery and plumb the depths of its trap-laden and monster-infested halls.
Stories of misfortune are often exaggerated, especially when they have been retold many times. For that reason, most people aren't taking seriously the claim that a sea monster living along the coast is eating whole ships full of sailors and swallowing entire families. But there's no denying a few facts -- the town of Lochfell is losing its citizens to a sea monster (one that walks on water no less), someone is stealing that same town's dead, and ships are beginning to choose other ports for unloading their goods. Such a scenario could doom the residents of the small port town to either a monster's gullet or the poorhouse. No one seems to know whether the town's two ongoing problems are connected, but the sea monster never leaves behind a corpse to bury. Is it collecting bodies for some dark purpose? Or did some more powerful evil creature create the sea monster to do its dirty work? Someone in Lochfell knows the answer, and it's up to the PCs to find it out. Lochfell’s Secret is a short D&D adventure for four 15th level player characters (PCs). The story is set in and around the port town of Lochfell. You can place the action in any section of your campaign world where a coastal town on a bay might exist. If there is a small town that the PCs visited in a past adventure but haven’t returned to in quite a while, so much the better. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
The once-dwarven wizard Hehranna knows that her previous race, for all its pride and skill, is hampered and distracted by lesser concerns—family, friendship, emotion. Once they join the Hive, they won’t begrudge a few moments of pain in exchange for the industrious awakening she has to offer them. Pgs. 16-32
Sarkt is an illithid sorcerer. It was cast out of its community for its heretical studies (Sarkt was in fact, lucky to escape alive). It didn't take the cunning creature long to pick up a few thralls and find a new place to live, safe from the murderous intentions of its companions. Sarkt dwells in the subterranean ruins of an ancient shrine to Blibdoolpoolp, the crustacean-headed deity of the kuo-toas. This shrine lies on the fringe of a region controlled by kuo-toas, but since Sarkt's arrival, the fishmen avoid the area. A few unfortunate kuo-toas now serve Sarkt as thralls and maintain the illusion that the shrine serves Blibdoolpoolp. Pgs. 82-88
Few planes possess the raw malevolence of the Infinite Layers of the Abyss. It is a place of random violence, appalling cruelty, and pure, unadulterated wickedness. Here, unreasoning malice rules, and countless demons torture and murder for the joy of it. The Abyss is innovative in its wretchedness, with each fleeting moment birthing new and awful psychotic acts of utter evil. Those who brave its depths find no relief from its corrosive nature, nor respite from the cancerous seeds of evil blooming within all who tarry here; they find only anguish, pain and if they're lucky, sudden, abrupt death. "Into the Maw" is the ninth chapter of the Savage Tide 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 #356 of Dragon magazine features an expanded list of strange and exotic magical items that could be purchased from the mercane merchants encountered during "Into the Maw." In order to rescue a friend, the PCs must sail into the Abyss and infiltrate a prison built by the Prince of Demons. Pgs. 48-85
The characters have escaped the maze only to find themselves in strange dimensions of fire, stone and ice, and a strange idyllic hunting ground where all is not as it appears.
Intrigue and action in Freeport's exclusive hotel. This adventure is a series of plots that are only connected by happening on the same night. They can be separated, or run as written, and each plot includes hooks for further adventure. NOTE: The Tales of Freeport that contains this adventure is NOT one of the versions currently available in the Green Ronin store. Those contain short stories. This is an older item that appears to no longer be available from Green Ronin. It is possible that the adventures within it have been included in other products since then. But I have linked to the original product on DriveThru RPG.
In this adventure, the coastal village of Fair Haven needs the characters’ help. For decades, Fair Haven has relied upon its lighthouse to guide merchant vessels into port. But on a recent stormy night, the lighthouse suddenly failed. The trading ship Nymph’s Kiss was dashed on the rocks, and smugglers have already raided the wreck. Somebody has to restore the lighthouse, but the locals are afraid to go near because it shows all the signs of being haunted. Yet there might be more to the story, since there’s something living in the sea caves below…
What's happened to the Pearl Tower -- an ancient lighthouse built to warn ships away from a treacherous reef? Ships are disappearing, and the busy part of the trading season is just about to start. Could someone have taken over the lighthouse and wrecked the ships?
An Adventure for 0-Level Characters Remember the good old days, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics don’t waste your time with long-winded speeches, weird campaign settings, or NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know are there somewhere. For the past few years, an ogre that lairs in a cave near the wilderness town of Dundraville has demanded tributes of ale and supplies. The villagers were happy to comply, lest the brute attack them or destroy their property. But recently, the ogre changed his demands. Now he wants gold, building supplies — and captives! When the ogre walked into town only to have his request denied, he flew into a rage. The brute dragged two townsfolk off to his cave, to be eaten for sure! The villagers have no heroes to protect them — so someone must rise to the challenge! Six determined townsfolk have taken justice into their own hands. Can these village commoners defeat the ogre in his own lair before their fellows are eaten?
Tieflings are raiding a dwarven expedition under a shield of magical darkness, but if the PCs can supply the dwarves with giant scarab beetles capable of generating potent bursts of magical light, they might just survive. Unfortunately, they'll need to escort the herd of giant beetles through the Underdark first. A D&D adventure for 3rd-level characters.