A trek across the Shadow Marches leads weary travellers to Blackroot, a quiet village of ramshackle huts nestled among the darkwood trees. Here, orcs and humans live in peace. However, all is not well. Something evil has crawled up from below, threatening to devour the village and its denizens. Only a party of brave heroes stands in its way. In Khyber’s Harvest, the PCs battle an ancient evil threatening a remote village in the Shadow Marches. The dark power of the planes has grown strong in this place. Depraved cultists and twisted aberrant creatures are dragging innocents down into ancient caverns to undergo a horrific transformation. To save these helpless villagers, the PCs must overcome the terrors of Khyber—a quest that brings them to the attention of the dreadful Belashyrra, the Lord of Eyes.
"The Keepers of the Celestian Order, valiant defenders dedicated to destroying horrors from the Far Realm, have trapped a beholder in its lair. However, the evil aberration has proven far more dangerous than expected, and the Keepers need the help of adventurers to end the threat of Omaranthax once and for all. This Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game adventure, created for Free RPG Day 2012, pits player characters against a mutated beholder and its vile underlings. Although set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the adventure can be easily adapted to any* D&D world." *: The adventure mentions that it is suitable for any setting touched by the Spellplague.
A pall hangs over the frontier town of Wellspring, casting this once-vibrant place into corruption and death. Strange people stalk the streets and unexplained murders occur each night. Nagging fears that more horrors will spill forth from the Kadagast Mountains instill a pervasive paranoia within the townsfolk. Suspicious people watch their neighbors, and temple attendance has never been higher. Folk keep to themselves, hiding in their homes. They avoid darkened streets, lock their doors when night falls, and shutter their windows to close out the screams and shouts echoing in the dark. If the grim threats pressing the town are not stopped, the fl ame of Wellspring might very well flicker out.
“Den of the Destroyer” is the sequel to “The Lost Mines of Karak,” continuing the unfolding story of the Scales of War adventure path. In this adventure, the PCs are called back to Brindol by a surprising summons. There they learn that a platinum sword they had collected back in "Rescue at Rivenroar" is no mundane item - the blade is sentient! The blade charges the PCs to undertake a dangerous mission to an abandoned githzerai fortress in order to perform a ritual to awaken the blade's true form. Along the way, they must deal with bounty hunters hired by an old enemy (from "Shadow Rifts of Umbraforge"), and confront a vile gang of gnolls terrorizing Elsir Vale. Pgs. 14-54
Numerous towns sit in the shadow of Rak’Sarn, a mountain of flames and death. Each day near sunset, the volcano lets loose a blast of molten rock and ash, and the ancient red dragon Dal’Sarnquin swoops down the mountainside. By the time dawn breaks, another settlement has been burned to the ground. The PCs must track the dragon to his lair and defeat him before more towns are destroyed. Pgs. 196-191
On a trade road to the city-state of Tyr, a caravan is assaulted by a deadly obsidian shardstorm, forcing the survivors to band together and navigate the wastes to safety. But the force of nature that destroyed the caravan is under the malevolent control of the being known as the Wastewalker, who will stop at nothing to see the end of those that escaped his initial wrath. Can the heroes reach the Ringing Mountains before it’s too late?
Faced with an unusual alliance of giants raiding the countryside, the party must venture into the steading of hill giant chief Nosnra and uncover maps to the locations of the other giant strongholds. “Steading of the Hill Giant Chief ” can be run as a stand-alone adventure, or you can play it as the first part of a four-part series that continues with “Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane” (Dungeon 198), “Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl” (Dungeon 199), and “Hall of the Fire Giant King” (Dungeon 200). The adventure is part of the Against the Giants series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
“The Lost Mines of Karak” is the sequel to “The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge” and the fourth part of the Scales of War adventure path. After the player characters' success in "Siege of Bordrin's Watch" and "The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge", they have garnered something of a reputation in the city of Overlook. They are introduced to a wealthy patron that believes there is a connection between a shadar-kai arms dealer (from the previous two adventures) and a long lost dwarven mine. The patron wishes the PCs to find and secure the mine in order to use its wealth and resources to defend the city. The party then must travel through a wasteland and desert to find this mine. Once they have, they must fight through the hordes of monstrous creatures that inhabit it and defeat the Queen of the Drylands - a powerful naga. Pgs. 56-93
Every fifty years, a pair of storm titans met to pray in an isolated and well guarded cloud temple. This time, they have obtained a copy of the fabled Ritual of the Primordial Gate and are exploring its secrets in hopes of bringing a lost primordial to the world. Divine messengers are sent to the PCs to enlist their aid in disrupting the storm titans’ efforts.
Reavers of Harkenwold pits the heroes against the Iron Circle, a company of cruel mercenaries that has seized control of the small land of Harkenwold. In this adventure, the heroes become daring rebels and lead the folk of Harkenwold against their oppressors.
The Auburn Desolation is a forsaken waste of treacherous sand and unbearable heat within the Shadowfell. Gloom-wrapped serpents and foul undead haunt the wastes, striking out at unsuspecting travelers from sandy graves. Pgs. 88-95
The Bloody Maul of Kord is a magic weapon protected by the priests of Kord, who occasionally allow a noteworthy hero to use it when going on a dangerous quest worthy of the storm deity’s blessing. Six months ago, Atrimos of Ardor took the Bloody Maul for a quest to the Caverns of Demise, hoping to end attacks to the realm being launched from the caverns. He never returned. Now, the clerics of Kord hire the PCs to go into the caverns to retrieve the Bloody Maul of Kord—and to find Atrimos, if possible. Pgs. 108-113
“The Temple Between” is an adventure for 9th level characters, and it is challenging enough to take them to 11th level by the time all is said and done. Although intended as the final chapter of the heroic tier portion of the Scales of War Adventure Path, it can be run as a standalone adventure, or as an adventure in a campaign of your own making, with a small degree of modification. It contains elements of urban investigation, dungeon delving, and even wartime conflict, making it a suitable adventure to players of many tastes and preferences. The western end of Elsir Vale has been greatly troubled in recent days. The threat of the orc hordes from beyond the Stonehome Mountains, though turned back at Bordrin’s Watch, still lingers in the people’s minds. Peculiar and hostile creatures of shadow lurk in the caverns and caves below. Political squabbling grows among the city’s powerful dwarf clans. All this makes the city particularly vulnerable to an enemy nobody saw coming - that nobody even imagined. This enemy has goals and objectives far beyond the ultimately unimportant Elsir Vale, but the first step is the utter subjugation of Overlook. An enemy who, at least in part, is already here. In this adventure the player characters start by investigating the strange behavior of the city's clergy. They swiftly discover hints of a conspiracy worming its way through the city hierarchy - some members are possessed while others have been replaced by dopplegangers. After trailing this conspiracy to its source they discover a portal that leads to an ancient temple in the mountains. Using the portal, the PCs go to the abandoned ancient temple where they must confront both a cadre of fey and a band of mercenaries, from whom they learn there is a plot for a full-scale invasion of the region! The PCs must them rush back to Overlook and cement their place as heroes as they face off against the invading forces. Pgs. 4-71
The goddess Erathis has never seemed the sort to demand the sacrifice of mortals in exchange for safe trade routes, but that’s exactly what her high priest has demanded. When a local ruler asks the characters to investigate the high priest, a chain of events is set in motion that could shake the city of Wyllea, and the church of Erathis, to its core. This adventure makes extensive use of roleplaying encounters and skill challenges, with fewer tactical combat encounters. There is a substantial focus on politics and intrigue. The Tariff of Relkingham is written for 3rd level PCs, but contains advice for lowering or raising the starting level from 2-4. It also contains a system for calculating an advantage or disadvantage in the final fight based on the players' actions during the adventure. Pgs. 83-103
Will the adventurers be able to thwart the machinations of a mad dragon in the hopes of saving the city of Sharn from certain destruction? Is the slinky elven maiden really in trouble or working for the enemy? Is the body in the morgue really the center of this whole puzzle or merely one piece? This adventure, in the style of a Dashiell Hammett novel, will certainly test their skill and resolve. This is the first full adventure for Eberron with the 4th edition D&D(R) rules. This adventure builds on the sample adventure provided in the Eberron Campaign Guide but is also playable as a stand-alone adventure.
A force of orcs has taken over a small hilltop keep. The PCs are engaged by the local lord to rid his home of the intruders. Fortunately for the PCs, the keep’s main doors are still damaged from when the orcs took possession, and entry is relatively easy. Unfortunately, the orcs are determined to stay. Pgs. 24-29
Darkness looms near Winterhaven! Kobold brigands have grown ever bolder in their attacks, marauding the once peaceful town, and a known explorer has been missing ever since their departure to the excavation site of a dragon burial site. When the party investigates, they will discover that the kobold's leader, Irontooth, bears a tattoo of a ram-headed demon. This is a troubling portent, for the townsfolk will report that this can only mean the dread god Orcus, master of death, has an active cult in that ruined keep! It is up to the party to enter the Keep on the Shadowfell and put a stop to the cult's fell machinations before it threatens all the realm. There they will fight the evil priest Kalarel, Scion of Orcus and seal off the vile portal to the dark realms he is master of. Should the heroes seize victory, glory and treasure are sure to be theirs. But first they must endure the challenges of that dreaded KEEP ON THE SHADOWFELL!
When Monsters threaten the village of Crystalbrook, it's up to adventurers to track down where they're coming from. The investigation leads them on a journey across planes. In the Feywild, the heroes must explore an enchanted island garden and unravel the plot of a foul hag, before she and her fiendish companion can perform a ritual to seize control of the island. "Beyond the Crystal Cave" is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure designed for the winter 2011 season of the D&D Encounters official play program. This season incorporates character options from Player's Option: Heroes of the Feywild, and it comes with three full-color maps, thirteen ready-to-play encounters, and information on the D&D Encounters program. Originally found in Dungeon Magazine #211 now available as a stand-alone adventure. Pgs. 63-122
Rising from the surface of a massive lake, an ancient ziggurat travels through time for purposes unknown. It’s up to the characters to enter this strange relic and discover what dark threat the structure poses. The Ziggurat Beyond Time contains advice for customizing the adventure for your own campaign. It also contains an artifact, the Deluvian Hourglass, that has time-related properties and wishes to witness the end of the world. Pgs. 23-55
A proud paladin’s quest for glory against marauding orcs ends in tragic failure with his disappearance and presumed death. Worse still, an artifact of his faith entrusted to him has gone missing. Can the adventurers reclaim the artifact and force an end to the hostilities, or will the brightest beacon of good in the Western Heartlands be extinguished? Pgs. 28-43