In Heart of Nightfang Spire, the player characters are drawn to investigate Nightfang Spire, a lonely stone tower in a barren land. The vampire lord Gulthias, servant of the great dragon Ashardalon, has returned to the tower which was once the main cult temple of Ashardalon. The vampire prepares for the dragon's return by awakening the other cultists who had preserved themselves as undead creatures. Gulthias is a vampire and a level 13 wizard.
The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure. 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. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. The characters have just arrived in the small settlement of Crivdall, which is a fort on the edge of a huge, dangerous swamp. In the dead of night, a small armada of monstrous vermin attacked the characters and their hosts, and the PCs may have spied a mysterious figure that controlled their actions.
Nearly 100 years ago, Lord Eriador wrested the lands from the hands of evil and began a reign of unsurpassed courage, wisdom, and might that lasted over three centuries. One day this great man of valor was called onward to continue his battle for freedom and goodness on a higher plane of existence. Leaving the responsibilities of rulership to his faithful overseer, he donned his magical shield, helm, and sword and traveled to the Holy Maountain of Anduin to meet his destiny. Eriador left the overseer with this solemn promise: if there ever arose a time of great need, he would answer a summons from the Mountain of Anduin to come back to vanquish any evil that dared to oppress his people. It is now the reign of the third overseer. For years now, an evil mage has been plaguing the land by sending forth hordes of evil humanoid minions to oppress the people. The overseer has been forced to pay tribute to the mage to protect his people. Life has become nearly unbearable for his subjects. It has been over five years since the mage desecrated the holy mountain by placing foul creatures in its depths to guard against the possibility of the people seeking help from their nearly forgotten champion. A fortnight ago, your party was gathered in a secret council chamber to meet with the overseer himself. You felt a spark of hope for the people of this land as the overseer told the legendary tale of Eriador. He gave you the equipment you need and charged your party with the task of venturing into the heart of the now monster-infested Mountain of Anduin to call back the people's great hero, Eriador the Paladin. Although the three parties sent before you had not returned, ridding the of the land of the mage seemed worth any risk, and you eagerly set out on your quest. Now, standing before the defiled mountain, you wonder if perhaps you were too hasty.
Six months ago, an adventuring group that calls itself the Company of the Shining Stone learned of an aged wizard’s tomb that lay in the rocky foothills of a prominent mountain range, and sought to plunder it. What they were not counting on was that a band of stone giants would move into the immediate area to make their lair. The giants have rebuffed the company’s attempts at getting past them and to their goal. Now is the time of the annual fair in Adurath, a small town located not far from the tomb, and thus, the giants. The giants have no interest in the town or the tomb, but are instead interested in a rare mineral found only in that region. A few of the townsfolk have seen the giants, but there has been no confrontation other than between the giants and the Company of the Shining Stone.
When you read the posting for this job, you knew what you were getting yourself into. "Lady of means requires the assistance of a stalwart group of adventurers willing to undertake a mission of the utmost importance. Discretion is required." Words like that never mean that the woman in question is looking for someone to weed her Garden - unless, of course, it's full of man-eating plants. Those are the kinds of words you only post if you are really in a bind. If it's a matter of life and death. If you're desperate for help and willing to pay for it through the nose. It just so happens that you've made yourself quite a reputation lending just that kind of aid to people in just that kind of need. And the money hasn't hurt you any either. So when Lady Elena Zadrian tells you that her father - the near legendary alchemist Sir Timoth Zadrian - has gone missing, well, you're not all that surprised. Lady Elena looks upon you once again, brushing the long blonde hair from her bright blue, tears soaked eyes. "My father lives outside of a village only four days ride from here, a sleepy, little place called Cuthder," she says. "He comes to see me every 4 months. He's a forgetful, old man, but I could set my clock by his visits." She chokes back a sob. "It's been eight months since I last saw him. I fear something has gone horribly awry. Either brigands have robbed his tiny castle, or one of his experiments may have left him dead - or worse." The lady stares you straight in the eye, and you can almost taste her desperation." My father is a good man, wise and Noble, but if word of this disappearance were to get out, it would hurl my household into a shambles. I need you to travel to his castle and learn for me what has happened to him, quickly and quietly." "Please," she begs of you, her Ruby painted lower lip beginning to quiver. "I need your help. And I'm willing to pay - handsomely." She has your attention.
"Deeptown lies in the shadow of mountains, a town where anything is for sale if you can only meet the price. But in the wild surrounding valleys of the Deeps, it's the bandits who make the darkest deals - and their ambition comes at a cost far greater than the contents of any wayward caravan. You and your team have just been handed a new job: disrupt a meeting between a bandit lord and his mysterious new allies. At a remote mountain villa, you will strike hard and fast and leave terror in your wake. They give you the tools. You provide the talent. Survive, and you'll be well rewarded. Fail, and you'll pay the price. You've got three days to raise some hell." This was one of the first third party adventures under the OGL for 3rd edition published by Atlas Games under the Penumbra line. The attack on the mansion is not a dungeon crawl, but feels like a commando raid aided by some unique magic items.
A dark shape emerges from the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. A flash of lightning reveals the sneering countenance of Count Strahd von Zarovich. His eyes burn with eternal hunger and a contempt for life. From a narrow balcony, he peers out into the drizzling twilight at the few sad lights of the village below and mutters a single name: "Ireena..." Based on the classic adventure by Tracy and Laura Hickman, the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft campaign adventure updates the original 1st Edition "Ravenloft" module, retaining the Gothic flavor and familiar elements while expanding and reimagining some of the locations to create a deeper, richer adventure experience. This adventure is designed for characters of levels 6, bringing them up to level 10, and features a new, easy-to-use combat encounter format. This book also presents new magic items, feats, and prestige classes for player characters. For use with these Dungeons & Dragons core books: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual.
Into the Forsaken Temple's Crypt is a short adventure for four 10th-level characters. The adventure takes place in a buried temple crypt, which has been sealed for centuries. Dungeon Masters can adjust it for higher-level characters by widening the dead magic areas and increasing the number and power of constructs and undead that inhabit the complex. The PCs have entered the Forsaken Temple's crypt and started exploring a bit. They had the opportunity to work with some drow, who warn of some clay golems ahead. Now they face the very golems that killed a drow cleric.
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
Kingdom of the Blind is a short adventure for four 8th-level characters. The adventure is set in a minor duchy that is fairly removed from the ruler of the land. As a result, trouble can brew in the land and the king would not know immediately. The PCs have just learned that Dephyl is alive and well and ordering blocks of granite. Meanwhile, Zhanna and Dephyl are on the third floor. If the PCs encountered the animated staircases on the first floor, the shriekers on the second floor, or triggered the trap outside Dephyl's study, the couple knows someone unwelcome is downstairs and moving up. They begin to prepare for their arrival.
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.
The whispered worries grow more fanciful and terrifying by the day... where has the loremistress gone?... what's wrong with the master smith?... who-or what-stalks the marketplace?... The questions need answers, and heroes are needed to do the asking! But the only thing worse than what hunts the mist-shrouded streets is what lies beneath them... Adventure in Dun Eamon: Demons roam the streets of the city of Dun Eamon, criminals rule the night and an important local power figure has gone missing. Can your heroes unravel the clues that lead through every social element of the city, into the hearts of its inhabitants and far below its streets in search of answers? Or are some mysteries better left unsolved? Uncover An Artifact: The Grey Citadel is a mini-campaign of urban detective work and dungeon exploration designed for four or more characters of 5th level. Set in a rain-soaked, rough-and-tumble frontier city, The Grey Citadel offers numerous colorful NPCs, a richly unique location, new monsters and magic items plus enough plot twists to provide hours of role-playing and door-kicking adventure where your wits must be as sharp as your swords!" This adventures mixes dungeon crawl with city investigation, keyed encounters and timed encounters.
The night air is chilly, but the crackling fire you've started warms your bones comfortably. Crickets chirp, and you smile up at the stars, glad for the quiet evening. There is a loud roar, and you are blinded momentarily as the campfire suddenly surges up into the air. The flames split down the middle, revealing an abyss that leeches the warmth from your soul. Out of this hellish place stumbles a black-cloaked figure clutching a scythe. Quickly, you reach for your weapons. The strange apparition staggers for a moment. Then, gathering its strength, it pulls back the hood on its cloak. Beneath is a bleached skull with stars for eyes. "I am Azrael, Lord of the Undead," it hisses. "Or rather, I will be Azrael, after time itself has died." Even as Azrael speaks, decay begins to eat away at its body, and the god shudders. Holding one arm up to watch as tiny fissures form in its bones, the deity sighs, "Ah, sweet Entropy, come to claim me at last." It's gaze sweeps back to you. "But no, not just yet. First, I must set events in motion." Weakness begins to overcome Azrael, and it sinks to one knee. "Long ago, I became the most powerful of all the gods, in spite of my enemies' efforts to stop me. Delirious with power, I destroyed the other gods and eventually fell to feasting upon the souls of their worshipers. After devouring every living creature, I consume the planets and, eventually, the stars themselves, until I was left alone, in darkness." The god struggles to finish its message as its bones turn to dust and blow away, "Unexpectedly, I felt remorse for what I had done. I grieved for the universe I had destroyed, but I lack the power to recreate it. So, I have come to you, to beg you to do what I cannot." Azrael reaches into its cloak and produces a leather sack. "Take these items and use them." As Azrael dissolves, it gasps out, "Kill me tonight, or tomorrow will never dawn." All that remains is a pile of dust and a leather bag.
Mimic Madness is a psudeo-adventure with four interesting mimic encounters. These four encounters are structured in a way that they can be used together as one adventure, or each individually dropped into any adventure from EL4 to 7. The encounters vary the mimic's tactics significantly, such as by having them we a weapon rack that wields the weapon it holds, pretending to be animated furniture using its ability to speak, and pretending to be a floor covering a pit; none of them rely on the typical chest or door mimics. Pgs. 24-25
The ravings of a mad prophet claim that a great evil has returned to Alik'bar and that this time, there shall be no salvation. Even those who previously vanquished the evil will be unable to stop it. Terror now grips the lower class populace while the guards and merchant class go about their days, ignoring the "Stories" of an unseen menace. "There is nothing wrong here," come the stern replies of the city guard. All the while the Mayor and his people retort, "the Evil in Alik'bar was banished long ago. This is nothing but vagrants and charlatans, begging for attention." The Church of Salvation has another opinion, but their words die down in a city griped with tension , apathy, and a demoralized poor class. The question remains: Why is there fear running in a city's slums? What does it have anything to do with the missing vagrants who disappeared so many years ago? Is there really a great threat, or is there a simpler answer? This is a sandboxy, mystery adventure in a city. There are secretly a green and a blue dragon leading factions in the city. In Cold Blood was updated to D&D 3.5 for the AEG adventure compilation 'Adventure II'
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.
Displace Beast Maze is an adventure that has one long encounter that is a combination of a puzzle (maze) and combat encounter (Displacer beast). The Displacer beast tentacle's ability to attack through the maze walls, knowledge of the layout, and hit-and-run tactics make the labyrinth both a useful and possibly deadly lair for the creature. Pgs. 27-29
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 first episode, the PCs were employed by Duke Ambrinigan to exchange a ransom of 10,000 gp in gems for a golden lion that was taken by frost giants in a recent raid. While waiting for the giants to arrive at the designated meeting place, the PCs watched as the white dragon Whildenstrank attacked the giants and then flew off with the statue. Charged with returning the golden lion statue at all costs, the PCs dealt with the remaining frost giants and then headed west, toward the lair of the dragon in the midst of the nearby glacier. Along the way, they encountered Velg the Dragon Tamer, another frost giant who was also on the trail of the dragon. Velg may or may not be with the party now. The PCs are now traveling across the flat icy surface of the glacier, and may have just noticed something burrowing under the ice, heading straight toward them.
"An army on the move, an ancient artifact, its purpose long forgotten, and the sinister plans of an unknown foe: When these elements combine, it's bad news for the good-aligned cities of the Blood Plateau. A massive band of orcs is marching on the Monastery of the Yellow Lotus, intent upon taking the "Flower That Does Not Bloom." The heroes must trek through goblin-infested tunnels and monster-filled woods ahead of the orcish horde, in a deadly Race to the Yellow Lotus." This adventure is the second in the "Tales from the Blood Plateau" series, but works well as a standalone or an intro to another campaign. Though the party does not actually engage the Death Knight/Blackguard antagonist, he is the primary driving force behind the events of the adventure. Published by MonkeyGod Enterprises and Highmoon Press
This adventure focuses on a Zhentarim attempt to spread terror in Mistledale, although it is suitable for almost any lightly settled area northwest of the Sea of Fallen Stars. "The Raiders of Galath's Roost" is suitable for four 1st-level characters, but PCs should be at least 2nd level before tackling the adventure's second half, the Zhentarim Citadel. Even in the first half of the adventure, many of the encounters are quite formidable for 1st-level characters, and the PCs might find it necessary to withdraw and recover one or more times before completely exploring the ruins.