Few are the wizards that seek to prolong their lives with dark rituals and foul magic to become the powerful undead beings called liches. But far fewer are those that seek to undo what necromancy what done and take back their lives after initiation to lichdom. Balipur is one of those few. Turned to a vassalich by the darklord Azalin against his will for impersonating him, Balipur, after Azalin's departure at the destruction of Il Aluk, seeks to imitate his former master's Grim Harvest project, inverted, in a smaller scale to forge a soul from the lives of other men.
Welcome to the youngest and most turbulent of the Realms, a mountainous expanse known as Tirna'Cel. This place was once well known for its power mongering warlords, magic wielding Sorcerers, and archfiends from the deepest pits of the Abyss. But in the last six hundred years, this has changed. Tirna'Cel is a peaceful and welcoming land now, doing no small part to the efforts of the warlord Tirna'Gael, a member of the lands founding nobility. Tirna'Gael turned against the other rulers without warning, attacking and overwhelming them without remorse. He is said to have suddenly grown stronger and more powerful. The reasons for his remarkable gain in power unknown, so they are routinely connected to items believed to have been entombed with him by the then newly-formed paladin's Order of Garadon. After his death, Tirna'Gael body was interred in his central citadel, a large stone fortress suspended over an immense lava pit. There he is rested for nearly six hundred years, protected by the surrounding hostile environment and a small cadre of supernatural guardians summoned and permanently bound by the Order of Garadon. But recently, rumors have reached the corridors of Tirna'Cel's capital city that invaders have struck the fallen heroes burial place, in search of one or more of his legendary magic items. So far, all that is known of these foul creatures is that they are native to the environment, being resistant to the fiery dangers of the area. Your party has been summoned by the Lord of the realm, who has charged you with ending the threat to Tirna'Gael's tomb and the potential destruction of the lands long enduring peace. If the sources of Tirna'Gael's power were to fall into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the nation as you know it.
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. The newly appointed Duke Castaril Ambrinigan has recently relocated to a modest, newly constructed keep near the frontier town of Ormanlak. He and his family arrived safely, but a caravan containing family heirlooms was waylaid by a band of frost giant raiders. Most of the items were of no consequence to the Duke, with the exception of one: a three-foot tall golden statue of a lion. The Duke, wanting to avoid a war, sent an emissary to the frost giants. He offered gems totaling 10,000 gold pieces in value as ransom for the lion. The giants accepted, and a time and place was set for the exchange. But there is more. A white dragon named Whildenstrank lives in the midst of a nearby glacier, and has maintained a network of winter wolf spies, including some in the frost giants' camp. Through these spies, Whildenstrank learned of the capture of the golden lion, and the upcoming trade. Thinking that the lion would make a fine addition to his frozen treasure hoard, Whildenstrank has prepared to strike.
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 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.
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
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 were lead into a trap -- a lair of giant spiders. With one or more of their members injured and poisoned, and the trail of their quarry now cold, the characters most likely return to Crivdall.
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
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.
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.
“Gorgoldand’s Gauntlet” takes place in a cave network in the side of a cliff overlooking a lake and can be inserted easily into any campaign. Gorgoldand’s Gauntlet is a site-based adventure with a pre-dominance of puzzles and traps. The PCs discover a map leading to the Gauntlet and explore it looking for treasure. They test their strength and wits against various traps and puzzles created by a gold dragon who converted a cave network into a proving ground to surreptitiously test the abilities of local adventuring bands. If they make it all the way to the end of the Gauntlet, they’ll have the chance to fight a dragon construct made of the dungeon's treasure hoard and have the chance to gain access to a magic item that can have a significant impact on their adventuring careers. Pgs. 39-51
Why should anyone travel the cracked cobblestones of the Old Road? The fortress that once cast its shadow across the road does so no longer - some whisper that the earth swallowed the fortress whole in an age long past. Four brave adventurers resolved to discover the truth and set off down the Old Road, but they never returned. This adventure is a first level adventure for beginning players set in the dungeon of the fallen fortress.
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.
Note: This is a sequel to Out of Body, Out of Mind. The legend of the realm of Tirna'cel is well known. Once remembered for its power-mongering warlords, homunculi-wielding sorcerers, and archfiends from the deepest pits of the Abyss, Tirna'cel has become a powerful and welcoming land over the last 600 years, due in no small part to the efforts of the warlord Tirna'gael, a member of the land's founding nobility. But your party knows the truth. You ventured into the tomb of Tirna'gael some six months ago, and therein discovered that the fallen warlord was actually little more than his brethren: a petty, avaricious power-monger. Possessed by a rival force which also desired the kingdom - a rare incorporeal demon called a nescent, which inhabited his body and augmented his already incredible power to unforeseen levels - Tirna'gael sought to overthrow the ancient warlords only to replace them. Through Tirna'gael's augmented body, the nescent overwhelmed and eliminated the other warlords, eventually dominating the realm along. But before it could consolidate its rule and throw Tirna'cel into an even darker age, the secret of its power was discovered by the paladins of Garadon, a virtuous cell of justice and light. The paladins lured Tirna'gael into the center of his own fortress and trapped him there within a powerful anti magic field. His body withered and died but the nescent remained dormant, waiting for its chance for revenge. During your visit to Tirna'gael's fortress-tomb six months ago, you accidentally released the nescent from its prison. That enemy has since been vanquished - at least for the time being - but the memory of your pitched battle against it still lingers as you approach the original chapter house of the Order of Garadon. You have been summoned.
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.
Two centuries past, the dwarven smith Durgeddin the Black carved a secret stronghold from the caverns riddling a hill known as the Stone Tooth. Laboring ceaselessly in their halls under the mountain, Durgeddin’s clan forged enchanted weapons for use in their vendetta against the orcs that had driven them out of their old homes. Durgeddin and his followers are long dead, but the dwarf-hold is not empty. Deadly peril waits in the caverns beneath the Stone Tooth, as well as Durgeddin’s hidden armory of matchless weaponry. The Forge of Fury is a dungeon crawl, or site-based adventure, describing the ruined stronghold of Khundrukar. The characters come to the Stone Tooth in search of a hidden cache of Durgeddin’s superior blades. They find the old stronghold inhabited by a number of dangerous monsters.
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 adventurers have located the secret lair of Aleretheral, an insane half-orc druid with mastery over vermin. He has been breeding and training monstrous vermin to defend his territory. With the adventurers invading his home, he will do anything he can to protect it.
Bringing Diablo II to the tabletop. The legendary Diablo and Diablo II computer games come to life with the release of the tabletop Diablo II: To Hell & Back roleplaying adventure. All a player needs is the Dungeons & Dragons(r) Player's Handbook (0786915501-8/00) to accompany the Diablo II game. Every level and all 4 acts of the computer game are represented in the tabletop mega-adventure, which will also include 64 pages of monsters, information for levels 1-30, and over 60 maps!
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 move to investigate the site of the battle.
Base of Operations is a short adventure intended for four 5th-level characters. DMs can easily modify the adventure to suit higher- or lower-level adventurers, or larger or smaller parties of adventurers. Simply adding a few monsters to every encounter area makes the adventure more challenging for larger parties, and adding levels to any of the humanoids can make them more of a threat to high-level groups. For low-level adventurers, make the relationship between the two factions within Brightstone Keep more strained, and take away a few monsters from each group. You can remove levels from some of the humanoids in the adventure to make it a lower-level challenge, but it is important that the orc cleric (described in encounter area 8) still have the ability to animate the dead. Still, he can have fewer minions around him when encountered, and that makes him less of a challenge for a lowlevel party.