The peaks of a nearby mountain range have been home to Krikk, an old white dragon, for as long as anyone can remember. Aside from claiming ownership of a few villages and settlements near her range, she hasn’t posed much of a threat or even taken much notice of political events around her. Last week, a king’s prophet had a vision of golems made of ice that wouldn’t melt smashing through the royal castle walls, and of crops frozen under sheets of ice formed by the white dragon’s breath. Alarmed, the king has sent word that he desires someone brave enough to go to the dragon and find out whether she’s about to attack. If she is, the party must stop her before it’s too late. But, another prophet warns that the white dragon has an entirely different plot afoot, and that an icy grave awaits anyone who goes up the mountain. The player characters (PCs) have to figure out what’s going on—then decide on their own what they should do about it, while the fate of a king and his castle hangs in the balance.
April, 1453. For a thousand years, the Byzantine Empire has been civilization's guardian, carrying on Rome's legacy. Now 100,000 battle-hardened Turkish warriors have surrounded the great city and are making ready to storm its mighty walls. Find the young empress - if she even exists. Stand alongside the last Roman emperor in a climactic fight to the death. Fight Vlad the Impaler, nastiest of the Sultan's allies. Meet the Eastern world's most exotic temptress. Wield new weapons: Greek Fire, arquebuses, and the Great Cannon. And as the Turks pour into the breaches, opportunities to hack abound. A stand-alone adventure, or use its detailed background as source material for your own campaigns! Published by Avalanche Publishing
The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure for four 9th-level characters. The party can consist of any mix of classes, but it should include at least one character that is good in wilderness settings, such as a druid, ranger, or barbarian, and at least one cleric. This scenario should prove a reasonable challenge for characters from 8th to 10th level. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. The characters attempted to cross back through the swamp to their base of operations. Along the way, they may have got stuck in mud and probably were attacked by a variety of flying insects. They arrive just a bit too late to stop a massacre that occurred back at Crivdall -- the fort is ruined and it appears that almost everyone is dead or missing. Aleretheral, an insane half-orc druid who has mastery of vermin and insects, attacked Crivdall with his insects. He has often infiltrated Crivdall by posing as a harmless elf hermit who lives in the wood. In reality, he wants the settlers destroyed and out of his swamp.
Ten days ride north of the great city, there is a small town named Treefall. Up until recently, this town was well known for its rich harvests, happy villagers, and prosperous weather. These days, however, the once-proud details from Treefall have turned darker. Instead of tales of unending prosperity, you hear hushed whispers of a great curse that has struck the once-happy village. Word has it that, where once roamed contented cattle, now strange beasts hunt by the moon's cold light and terrorize the hapless region. You have scoffed with the others at these stories. Despite the things you've seen in you adventures with your friends, the thought that such ill might befall such a sleepy town strikes you as terribly unlikely. There is plenty of evil in the world, true, but there are also much bigger and better targets. But, tonight despite the firmness of your disbelief, the stories come to find you. You have been traveling north along the roads on your own business, enjoying the rich fall colors and warm afternoons. Your camp os small and secure, with a roaring fire and meat cooking over the flame. It's one of those crisp autumn days that makes you long for a warm hearth after a long ride in the cool air. Still, the fire is good enough for now and you and your friends have a wonderful meal, talking and singing and laughing, anticipating a restful sleep beneath the blanket of stars. Until the beast attacks.
Into the Dragon's Lair takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, and takes place after the novels The High Road and The Death of a Dragon by Troy Denning. The nation of Cormyr tries to rebuild after the death of King Azoun IV, and seeks the treasure hoard of a dragon to fund these efforts and keep the kingdom from falling into chaos. The player characters must find this treasure before all the other seekers.
A wealthy sea-trader hires the PCs to solve a pirate problem and recover stolen supplies. Almost 100 pirates have made base in a treacherous cove. When the PCs arrive, most of the pirates are at sea on a mission. A large host of pirates remain in the base and force PCs to be creative with their approach, as a direct attack would be met with an overwhelming swarm of pirates. Unknown to the player's as they scheme is that the ship will soon return with its massive crew. The treasure cave is guarded by the dead sailors foolish enough to try and steal from the captain, who is the only one who can enter the cave safely. Players must be creative to deal with the pirates in the base and the approaching ship while still securing the plundered supplies in the treasure cave.
The Underdark holds many secrets. A series of earthquakes and eruptions have rocked a normally placid land. Strange creatures sighted in the dark of night raise fears across the already disturbed countryside. As tales of a lost race that once warred with the drow begin to surface, only the boldest adventurers dare to descend into the shadowy darkness.
Can the city of Redshore be saved from utter destruction? "The Razing of Redshore" is a D&D adventure that confronts the party with the destructive force of an awakened sperm whale druid and the sinister machinations of a secret cabal of powerful assassins. It is designed to provide such a group with an opportunity to continue their adventuring careers into the realms detailed in the "Epic Level Handbook". This book is not required to make full use of this adventure, though; any pertinent information from the supplement is reproduced here. Pgs. 72-106
Evil Reigns in the Elven Ruins Where elves once built the shining city of Myth Drannor, demons and devils now prowl in search of prey. Ancient evil slumbers beneath mossy stones, waiting for those foolish enough to venture within its grasp. Bold swordsmen, stealthy rogues, and skillful wizards have all met their end within the walls of Myth Drannor. But the lure of the city's magical treasures still draws heroes and villains alike to tempt death—or worse. Drawn by the dream of limitless magical power, the Cult of the Dragon has carved out a secret stronghold in the heart of the ruins. Using the power of a corrupted pool of radiance, the Cultists stand poised to attain their goal of subjugating all of Faerûn... unless a group of brave heroes can stop them first.
A Giant Ransom is a short adventure for four 11th-level characters. There are opportunities for diplomacy, stealth, and combat, based on the choices the PCs make, so any mix of classes is appropriate. The adventure can be set in any campaign world, in a frontier region near glacier-covered mountains. In the story thus far, the PCs have been tasked by Duke Ambrinigan, a local lord, to recover a stolen statue of a golden lion. The lion was stolen in transit by frost giant raiders, and was to be ransomed back to the Duke for 10,000 gp. The PCs were sent to perform the exchange. The giants, however, were attacked by the white dragon Whildenstrank, who stole the statue and retreated to his lair in the middle of a nearby glacier. The PCs encountered the remaining giants, and then set off westward toward the dragon's lair. They traveled across the flat part of the glacier, encountering the frost giant ranger Velg the Dragon Tamer, as well as some burrowing bulettes. The PCs now have entered the Ice Canyons: a maze of twisting passageways surrounding the black spire of rock that the dragon calls home. They have just heard sounds of a battle ahead.
The small town of Welwyn has been beset by a string of robberies. The heroes are led to the natural cave system located at the bottom of the town well, which they must explore to find the burglars. But once they’re in the cave system, things get much more difficult! The “burglars” turn out to be mere pawns in a much darker game. To get to the source of the crimes, the heroes must shrink themselves with potions of improved reduce person and explore a series of dangerous rat warrens where their prey is larger than they are!
A wizard's hideous transformation spells trouble for the kingdom of Nyrond. A D&D adventure for 5th-level PCs but adaptable for levels 2-8.
A mad necromancer imprisoned in a sanitarium has died. Now he has come back as a powerful undead wizard. His lunacy was only increased by his death and he has turned all the other inmates into his undead servants. Now the sanitarium is under his control. A traveling group of adventures must put a stop to the necromancer before his evil madness spreads.
The village of Darbin has fallen under the control of Kurishan, a mad wizard who recently died and was reincarnated as a shambling mound. He has created a new kind of plant, the brainvine, and is using it to possess the villagers. When contact with the town is lost, the PCs are sent to investigate.
The Temple of Draxion is an adventure with 2-3 encounters that uses clever tactics, trickery, and good defensive positions to make low-level monsters challenging. The defenders in the encounter try to deceive the PCs; groups willing to accept anything the DM says at face value will horribly misjudge the actual level of danger they are in. The adventure is set in a partially-collapsed dungeon that was once a temple to Erythnul, but is now the headquarters of a pair of aspiring bandits, and their kobold employees. Pgs. 12-15
If you're looking for a light-hearted adventure, you've come to the right place. Can a wizard and her beloved chef live a quiet life of baking and brewing, or is trouble destined to enter their innocent kitchen? It's up to the player characters to see what these two have cooked up before things get too hot to handle (without potholders, anyhow). Game designer Andy Collins offers the latest in our series of monthly free adventures. This original Dungeons & Dragons scenario, including full description and stats for a crusty new culinary creature, is suitable for a party of four characters of 2nd level. Adventure Preview When Andolyn met Gendrew, it seemed a match made in heaven. Andolyn was a skilled wizard with a love of a good meal, looking for an excuse to settle down from adventuring, while Gendrew was a master chef looking to create new methods of cooking. Together, they took up a quiet life of baking and brewing, content to live in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. But now one of their experiments has gone horribly wrong, and the characters must save poor Gendrew from his own delicious concoction, while defending themselves from the inhabitants of the cottage, and one unwelcome invader.
The cry echoes across Torassia: the cruel tyrant fell in a battle with undead troops, abandoned by the two princes in his time of need. The empty throne creates anarchy and chaos, as the princes and the Tsar's advisor battle for the right to rule. As if that wasn't bad enough, the worst winter that Torrassia has ever experienced leaves frozen corpses in villages everywhere. It's a race against time as Sergei, the Tsar's commander in chief, gallops southwards to reach the capital before the forces of hell get there first. Will you brace the coming storm? Published by MonkeyGod Enterprises and Highmoon Press
The Sea Witch is a short adventure for four 10th-level characters. The difficulty of the adventure can be adjusted by changing the level of main antagonist (Black Molly, the sea hag pirate) or by altering the number of her ogre servants. To tailor the encounter to groups of different levels, refer to table 4-1 in Chapter 4 of the DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE. The adventure is set off a lightly populated coastline known as Misty Bay, but adapts easily to any coastal region in existing campaigns. The sea hag known as Black Molly is a notorious pirate who has plagued the coastal cities for the better part of a decade. A successful Knowledge (local) check (DC 15) will reveal that Molly and her ogre crew have a filthy reputation as merciless killers who delight not only in plundering vessels for their riches, but also in destroying the ships themselves and sending all hands to the bottom of the sea. Now the villain and her followers have seized control of the Old Lighthouse of Misty Bay located off a lightly populated coastline. For generations the lighthouse beacon has protected the fishermen of this region, warning them of the dangerous rocks that lurk just below the level of the high tides. Recently, the hag has put out the beacon, darkening the lighthouse; misery and destruction are sure to follow as ships start to blunder into the rocks. Blackmail is apparently Black Molly’s aim in this venture: She conveyed a message to the nearest shore community, the fishing village of Poisson, demanding the princely sum of 50,000 gp. Until she receives this ransom, she intends to hold the lighthouse and its beacon hostage. The fate of the human keepers who tend the lighthouse is unknown to the seaside communities at this time, but they fear the worst. The Sea Witch is ostensibly a rescue mission: The PCs are pitted against the evil of Black Molly and the brawn of her savage ogre crew. It is the heroes’ task to retake the lighthouse and, if possible, free its captives from the clutches of their jailer. What neither the PCs nor the shore communities yet realize is that while she 1would be pleased to have the gold, Black Molly is in fact after bigger treasure. Molly has no intention of giving up the lighthouse — at least, not until she finds what her master sent her here for. Lying on the sea floor practically at the base of the rock on which the lighthouse sits is the wreck of the war galley Flying Cloud, which according to popular legend was captained by a cleric who wore around his neck an amulet of the planes. Black Molly wants this prize, but so far she hasn’t been able to find it. She’s scoured the wreck without finding any sign of the magic item. Now she’s trying to determine where to search next, for the item might well be somewhere near the wreck. If she can’t find it, she’ll start torturing her captives to find out if they have any useful knowledge about the amulet.
A Villain with a Vison A stolen jewel leads to the heart of the swamp, where one man’s thirst for vengeance threatens to destroy an entire town. Pgs. 68-92
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?