It's a frigid New Year's Eve, and the heroes gather near midnight in a small condemned tavern wihtin the Free City-State of Gate Pass. Located in the mountain pass which separates two hostile nations. Gate Pass has been neutral since the end of their last war. That neutrality is about to be put to the test, as a scourge comes for the city from the nearby empire of Ragesia. By now, every magic-user in Gate Pass knows of the Scourge. The Emperor of Ragesia died barely a month ago, and a witch named Leska has moved to cementer herself as the next empress. Leska leads the Ragesian Inquisitors, clerics specialized in countermagic and has decreed ass disloyal mages to be tracked down and killed to prevent future threats to the empire. Their first target is Gate Pass, whose neutrality has long been viewed as an insult to the nation's honor. This is the first of twelve adventures in the War of the Burning Sky adventure path from E.N. Publishing.
Many years ago, Evard came to Duponde to destroy his rival Vontarin, a powerful wizard who lived in a manor at the edge of town. The two mages met near the walls of the abbey of St. Avarthil and dueled all night long with black spells, laying the old monastery in ruins with their magic. In the morning, the surviving friars found Evard dead in the wreckage and buried him in the town’s graveyard. Vontarin was never seen again. Now, almost fifty years after his death, Evard’s final curse is about to descend on the town and everyone within it. Also available in Dungeon Magazine #219 Pgs. 30-90
Stonefang Pass wends its way through the mountains of the Stonemarch, home to brutal tribes of orcs. The time has come to clear the pass and gain a foothold, so that it can be used for trade between the town of Winterhaven and the lands beyond the mountains. Brave adventurers are needed to rid the pass of monsters and liberate Stonefang Keep from the orcs. Who’s up for the challenge?
In this adventure the heroes must brave the perils of the Innenotdar, whose trees and other vegetation has burned with an undying flame for 40 years. They do this to throw off the dogged pursuit of the Ragesian Empire, who seek to stop them from delivering information crucial to the war effort. Along the way the heroes will face monsters that have been afflicted with this undying flame, a demon that has made a contract with the Ragesian Empire, and potentially solve the mystery surrounding this burning forest. This is the second adventure of the War of the Burning Sky adventure path from E.N. Publishing.
This deluxe adventure takes heroes into the ruins of Gardmore Abbey, a monastery that was once the base of a militant order of paladins devoted to Bahamut. According to legend, the paladins brought a dark artifact back from a far crusade and stored it in their abbey for safekeeping, and evil forces gathered to assault the abbey and take it back. What the legends don’t tell is that this artifact was actually the Deck of Many Things, a force of pure Chaos. This adventure brings characters into the extensive dungeons beneath the ruins - dungeons that are warped and twisted with the raw forces of Chaos surrounding the cards of the deck.
Recent earthquakes have unearthed a small section of a lost dwarven fortress. The dwarves are long gone, but rumors suggest they might have left treasure or weapons behind. After a journey into the Underdark, the characters find a barred iron door bearing the names of several ancient dwarven clans. Pgs. 90-95
A short mystery adventure with only two combat encounters: An archfey has placed a curse on a small hamlet, putting all the adults to sleep. The PCs must talk to the children to learn what's going on. When they get too close to figuring it out, boggles attack. Eventually the PCs realise they have to compose a short verse of poetry to wake the adults. When they do, an avatar of the archfey attacks in one last attempt to stop the PCs.
The entity known as Oreiax is a gruesome, stunted monstrosity born of ancient death. Rescued from an eternity of petrification by Doresain the Ghoul King, Oreiax immediately pledged itself to the Ghoul King's service, and thus indirectly, into Orcus's service. Oreiax, born of stone and death, seeks to glorify Doresain by petrifying the world. Pgs. 112-119
Barovia has long suffered under the rule of Count Strahd von Zarovich, but the evil that plagues this land extends well beyond the walls of Castle Ravenloft. See what keeps the good citizens of Barovia awake at night.
In what became known as the Age of Madness, an astral lich calling himself the Crimson Hand descended from the sea of stars, setting his fell gaze upon Gaea. Her red moon he made both his temple and his phylactery, and from there he sought to enslave those who would be ruled and devour those who would not. The Ancients of the four corners of Gaea united their knowledge against this threat, constructing a colossal golem, and inscribing the four POWER WORDS upon four scrolls. These scrolls they fed to the colossus, who ascended to the crimson moon in an instant. The sages of the realm watched as the flashes of battle signaled in the night sky, ending as the crimson moon itself split in half. The lich and the colossus were destroyed, and the Age of Madness was ended. Millennia have passed, and now a new threat rises from the netherworld. The four POWER WORDS have been forgotten, lost among the shattered remnants of the moon. The sages have once again united what remains of their power, this time to teleport a paltry handful of crusaders to retrieve the lost scrolls before the world is doomed.
"And they bade their slaves, 'Build unto us tombs to rival the palaces of the gods, for there shall we live or lives and sleep our deaths in splendor.' And the people of Maru-Qet wore their fingers down, broke their backs, burst their hearts to obey. Indeed they raised up great tombs to rival the palaces of the gods. And their masters were well pleased, for it was as gods they saw themselves." The brown dragon Urum-Shar lurks in a strange tomb, plotting schemes only a wyrm of incredible power could understand. Expanding on content from Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons, this adventure takes the heroes into Urum-Shar’s dark and trap-filled lair, where they will eventually face the powerful dragon herself. The dungeon heavily employs the use of traps, with fewer monsters. The upper tomb consists of a great puzzle of twelve rooms, and the lower tomb contains the dreaded Urum-Shar, an ancient brown dragon and heir to the lost draconic empire of Maru-Qet. The dungeon has special protections against scrying and other divinations, as well as teleportation. Pgs. 55-90
(NB: this adventure is set in a desert in the broader 'Nentir Vale' world, but not the Nentir Vale itself) Eladrin raiders led by the Half-Elf Emrett Mazrid have been trying to uncover the secrets of immortality. Disgraced academic Mazrid has discovered an obelisk in an oasis guarded by a sphinx, and is preparing to sacrifice their academic rival Voor as part of the ritual. Save Voor, the obelisk, and the oasis!
Long ago, before the arrival of civilized humanoids, a large colony of ogres thrived in the local area. When a great invasion from another dimension threatened this colony, their king, Koptila, prayed for his people to be spared. The gods heard these pleas, but commanded Koptila to sacrifice himself. The leader did so, and the clan disappeared—whisked away by the gods and lost to time. Over the years, a city grew up above the former subterranean home of the ogres, and no aspect of Koptila’s ancient bargain was preserved or remembered. Even so, the stars are aligned for the return of Koptila and his people. These powerful repatriates are unlikely to appreciate the changes in their old home. A sage has found dusty documents prophesying this return, and he asks the PCs to investigate the catacombs to defeat the potential threat to the city. The PCs travel down through city sewers and subterranean passages before finding the catacombs that the ogre colony once called home. Pgs. 48-53
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.
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.
In order to stop a series of devastating giant raids, the party must venture into the stronghold of the frost giant jarl Grugnur to both recover the giants' plans and eliminate Grugnur, who is the tactical head behind the operations. The adventure is part of the "Against the Giants" series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
"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 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.
E2, following up on Death's Reach, the PC's first travel to Sigil following the smuggled remains of the primordial Timesus. The pursuit then leads into the Abyss, through the White Kingdom to face Doresain, the Ghoul King, exarch of Orcus. The module certainly is epic, placing the PCs up against powerful monsters like greater demons, death knights, and a demilich. It may be frustrating that the PCs arrive too late to disrupt the plot (have to allow for the finale in the next adventure) but taking out Orcus' right hand ghoul may be satisfying. Includes a skill challenge for crossing a portion of the Abyss For environments, City refers to Sigil.
From time immemorial, the rulers of the mortal world have been counseled and tempted by capricious primordial spirits who rule over the elements. The greatest and most sinister of these was a half-kraken medusa known as the Maelstrom Queen, who sought to supplant the mortal races with her own line of immortal tentacled monstrosities. On the verge of her ultimate triumph, when the leviathans at her command rose from the depths, a legendary assassin murdered the Maelstrom Queen in her half-submerged palace with her own weapon. But the primordial mistress refused to let something as trifling as death put an end to her designs. Every 13 years, she regenerates enough mystic power to rise again, and the world’s greatest heroes are sent to murder the Maelstrom Queen once more.