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.
Centuries ago, the four deities worshipped by mortals – Kishar, Kotaresh, Lyth, and Asar-Segt – threatened to drown the world in a flood of saltwater to punish the living for their impiety. The oracles and witches of the realm struck a desperate bargain with the gods, however, and convinced them to spare the world. In exchange, the mortal kingdoms were bound to demonstrate their faith once every generation by sending their most courageous and adroit warriors to the Crucible, a ziggurat in the lowest valley of the land. Every quarter-century, on the first full moon of summer, an eclipse darkens the night and the sealed ziggurat opens. Many traps, tricks, and guardians lie within the Crucible to test those who enter. Few who heed the challenge of the gods survive – most find only quick death. If the races of the world are deserving of the gods’ affection, their champions will overcome the trials of the Crucible and light the Divine Brazier hidden in its uppermost chamber. If they are not, the flickering candle of civilization will be snuffed. Little of value will have been lost. Published by Defy Danger and Save Versus Death
A ten-part, fourthcore megadungeon designed to take a party of 4-6 players from level 1 to level 10. The Voice of All spoke three times before falling into silence. The first time to give shape to the Ancients. The second to give them the world as their domain. The third to build the TOWER for the war that was to come. And war did come. The Ancients, primordial warriors charged with protecting the world, were subverted by three great crusaders, vindictive and powerful. The Ancients were stripped of immortality and cast from the heavens to serve and suffer with the rest of humanity. The crusaders claimed new bodies for themselves, and became the Triumvirate, god-tyrants of all realms. The long line of descendants of the Ancients is dwindling, along with humanity’s last hope. What few remain have gathered to enter the TOWER OF THE ASCENDANTS. Crumbling stone tablets of ages forgotten say that a mortal who ascends the TOWER that pierces the heavens and slays the gods who dwell in its highest bower will reclaim lost immortality.
Orcus, the Demon Prince of Undeath, craves the power of the Raven Queen and mastery of death's domain. The key to his ascension and the secret to his destruction lies buried in the heart of the Abyss. As heroes chase Orcus into the abyssal depths, evil opposed them at every turn, and each victory brings them closer to their final fate. Concluded the epic series of adventures and the entire story line begun in Keep on the Shadowfell.
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
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
A nest of vampires has claimed a dark forest and the surrounding human towns as its domain. Some of the local residents revere the vampires and serve as daylight guardians and spies. However, most of the townsfolk live in a state of dread. Those townsfolk have finally scavenged enough valuables to hire a band of adventurers to destroy the nest. Pgs. 66-71
Death slithers across the Dunes. Nightmares of desert horrors trouble the dreams of the innocent while raiders grow ever bolder beyond the walls of the great city-state of Tyr. Bandits and merchants chase rumors of a temple hidden in the desert, an ancient shrine to the primordial Ul-Artha said to safeguard a fragment of the artifact known as the Crown of Dust. Can the heroes recover a caravan lost in the wastes, repel the threat of vicious raiders, and win the relic form the perilous temple? Now that Tyr is free of Kalak the Sorcerer-King, opportunity abounds in the city and the surrounding wastes. But some see Kalak's fall as the beginning of Tyr's end, and the unpatrolled deserts nearby are rife with danger. Outlaws openly defy the city's Revolutionary Council and threaten outlying holdings. If Tyr is to thrive, heroes must arise to tame the lawlessness and evil that threatens the free city.
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
A newly constructed temple of Bahamut lies along a road outside a rural township. As the PCs approach the place, a scream for help erupts within it. Pgs. 60-65
Uncover a Hidden Legacy A lost passageway on the upper level of the most infamous dungeon in Faerûn has recently been uncovered. When a patron hires a band of adventurers to brave the dangers of Undermountain, a search is on to uncover secrets of an apprentice of the dungeon’s lost creator – Halaster.
A cadre of githyanki has come to the world in search of rich plunder and soft targets. It has set up a base in the lower levels of an abandoned fortress ruin. A caravan of travelers spotted a githyanki while it hunted for food. Rumors of an invading army from the Astral Sea quickly spread through nearby towns, and the PCs have arrived to investigate. Pgs. 84-89
Many Cannith creation forges were lost on the Day of Mourning, but a rogue artificer has uncovered one of those that pursued some of the most experimental and dangerous research during the Last War. But while seeking the forbidden knowledge in the forge, this explorer awakened a dark power that was more than she could handle, and that now threatens the region. Pgs. 4-34
There was no greater scholar, explorer, or collector of antiquities in the area than Hallomak Stromm. The enigmatic Stromm recently passed away, and the PCs have received personal invitations to appear at the public reading of his will. Pgs. 72-77
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.
(Note: The titular crown is in this adventure, but it's up to the GM to provide their own stats for it, should the PCs obtain it) A short three-combat dungeon delve: Trolls with remarkably proficient tactics have been causing trouble for years. Track them to their lair then kill the trolls & their leader who has a black crown beaten into the flesh of their head.
A City on the Brink of War Missing for decades, the Crown of Neverwinter, symbol of the former ruling family, has emerged at last. Yet not all are pleased with the crown's reappearance. Beset by rebels and plaguechanged, Lord Dagult Neverember must hire a group of adventurers to track down the so-called Lost Heir and discover his intentions for the city. The stakes are no less than the lives of the citizens of Neverwinter, for if the heroes fail, Neverwinter seems doomed to descend into civil war.
While camping in the wilderness, the characters find a tracker surrounded by wolves. Once the heroes dispatch the beasts, the tracker reveals that she is seeking aid in the fight against the darkness enfolding her community, Silver Lake. Should the characters help, they find the village terrorized by lycanthropes that hail from a tiny island rising from the mist-shrouded lake.The island is a fey crossing, and heroes who set foot on it find themselves in the Feywild, where a war is brewing; the lycanthrope clans are at each other’s throats, and many are turning their feral eyes outward to the rich lands beyond their secluded valley. To avert an unimaginably savage war, the heroes must rescue a werewolf lord from his captors and expose the conspiracy that threatens to drench the Feywild in blood...
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
The Raiders’ Hideout is a series of underground chambers (or perhaps the interior of a pyramid) that serves as a base of operations for a band of gnoll desert raiders. The PCs have come to exact a measure of justice for recent brutal caravan raids. They’ve tracked the gnolls to their lair, where they intend to end the threat to desert trade once and for all. Pgs. 30-35