Do you dare delve into the depths of an ancient demon's prison? Designed to be a fun 5E challenge-dungeon. Delve into a cave where an ancient evil was once sealed away... but be wary, as over the ages, the seals upon the Demon have begun to weaken... This is the one-shot featured in my larger adventure, Tower of the Chronomancer, but more polished and slightly expanded to allow it to stand on its own. (Originally it was the Tower's "6th floor.") I'm making this Pay What You Want, hoping people will enjoy this content -- and maybe seek the larger adventures I've already written. The Cave. Mostly hidden behind a nondescript hill in a crowded wood, forgotten by almost everyone not of the nearest town, and even they have forgotten why the cave was originally created. What it contains -- what it seals in. Marked only by a broken, rotten sign, now it's viewed as a prank spot. Sometimes it's a hideout for unsuspecting bandits. Generally, it's a place no one goes on purpose due to the lingering "wrongness" that any who enter seem to feel. Any that pass through the perfectly-rectangular entrance will find that it's much more than meets the eye. Especially if they are able to find their way down to the Trials! The Story. Long ago, a shapeshifting demon called "Umbraeus, the Defiler" sought dominion over the world. It clawed its way out of the Hells and took control of the region through a mixture of trickery (empowering people it could use) and destruction (raining fire, destroying crops and rivals, etc.). Umbraeus reigned for many years... until it was betrayed by a rival, which allowed a group of adventurers and mages to defeat and trap it in a magical green gemstone. The gem was then buried deep underground, protected by a set of Trials that allowed only those pure of heart and capable of handling its influence to visit it. But a long time has passed. The seals that held Umbraeus at bay have begun to weaken. And the demon has found a way to crack the gemstone. Its malevolent influence has begun to seep out into the world above. If nothing is done, it may manage to fully escape! Includes: A 5e one-shot adventure for 5th-6th level adventurers (4-6 hours long) Combat, roleplaying, puzzles, discovery, randomness, and loot! A chalenging demon encounter with variable difficulty levels 6 original enemy statblocks, including an evil shadow-boss 2 original magic items. Keywords You Can Expect: High fantasy, cave dungeon, combat, evil demon, shadow dragon, puzzles, discovery, randomness, gelatinous cubes, constructs, moral quandries, and lots of loot.
The wedding was meant to unite poweful families from Everlund and Silverymoon. "Til death do us part" comes sooner for some couples than others when undead hordes and a feral demilich are uninvited guests. The Dead Wedding is a short, 3 to 5 hour adventure for characters level 14 to 16. The adventure contains maps for Moonshadow Keep and the crypt of the demilichess Regetta Arch Therm, deadly traps, and RP hooks that enable players to use high-level non-combat abilities.
Throw your party into an action movie in this pulse-pounding, single-session adventure inspired by Die Hard. This adventure sends your party to celebration of the winter solstice, on the top floors of an archmage's tower. When a group of mercenaries led by a revenge-seeking criminal mastermind crash the party and take the guests hostage, the adventurers are plunged into their own real-life action movie. Yipee Ki-Yay! General Features - Designed for a level 3 party - Playable in 3-4 hours (and playtested) - Gritty and dangerous; the party starts without any weapons or spellcasting and must ambush the mercenaries to arm themselves. - Includes 8 new magic items and 3 new stat blocks. - 7 fully-mapped floors of the wizard's tower, modeled after the floorplans of the real-life building where the original Die Hard was filmed. Why Players Will Love It - Your choices matter! This is not a linear adventure by any means. You're dropped in a dangerous situation, deprived of your gear, and what happens next is up to you. - You're in an action movie! Ever wanted to crawl around air ducts or up elevator shafts, or swing from a roof and smash through a window? Now you can! - Deadly, but with a safety net. The first to die gets a fun surprise, and stays in the game. - Fun loot! If you continue with these characters after this adventure, you'll have some fun new toys to play with. - It's Die Hard! If you're a fan of the movie, you'll be a fan of this adventure. Why GMs Will Love It - It's flexible and easy to run, and rewarding without being overcomplicated. - A quick-reference page contains all the information you might need at a moment's notice, including suggested on-the-fly combat encounters, NPC names, and a cast list with roleplay suggestions for each character. - A plot checklist to help keep you on track during the game. - Most importantly, information is right where you expect to find it.
A primer for the noir, pulp-fantasy setting of Sharn, the City of Towers, sending the party on a fast-paced urban investigation to track down a missing courier and ancient magical relics.
The nearby jungle is growing at a disturbing pace -- overnight, whole villages have been swallowed up by creeping vines. Rumors say the source is a corrupt and powerful temple deep in the jungle. In reality, the blight lords of Talona created a monstrous corpse flower and imbued it with the power of a cursed gem from an ancient temple of their goddess. After the blight lords released it into the forest, the corpse flower bent the surrounding jungle to its semi-sentient whims, recreating the temple out of plant life -- with an insatiable hunger for expansion.
"House of Reeds and Whispers" is the lair of a pair of red hags, suitable for four characters of 8th level. This adventure can be completed in one session. Two red hag sisters recently exsanguinated an eccentric collector named Nahl Fry and took up residence in his swamp-side home. Liori and Ijith were seeking an artifact from the ancient city of Talitheos, the sunken stronghold of the red hags. They found the artifact, a pair of knitting needles made from blood-infused coral. in Nahl Fry's collection. The sisters yearn to understand how the artifact works, and so they are testing its dark powers against a nearby hamlet. They have knitted rapidly growing crimson reeds that funnel the blood of fauna and farm animals back to the house. The hamlet's leader, Galnas, hires the PC's to investigate. The party must press through the reeds, defeat the sisters' guardians, face the hags, and end the reedy infestation.
This short adventure is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting; it may be run as a standalone adventure, or as a side trek for a larger module . Alternatively, this adventure could be inserted into any campaign setting. Trouble is brewing near the town of Red Larch; specifically, in the caves near Lance Rock. A few good adventurers are needed to investigate the increased orc and ogre sightings in the area.
After carving out quite the reputation, you and your associates have been summoned to meet with the local regent. As you wait in the audience chamber you notice that the furnishings appear to be in the middle of an upgrade. After being introduced to the slovenly king, his vizier explains the task ahead of you. Apparently the monarch wants to decorate his throne room and wants a Giant Ape as the showpiece. As luck would have it, rumors point to a nearby island in the Jarteach Mere…
A fallen clock tower holds components from an ancient artifact. Upon discovery of the components, competing agents look to launch expeditions to uncover additional components scattered across distant places—and times. The now-lost Temple of Moloch and the construction site of the legendary Tomb of Horrors are two of those locations. However great the risks, finding the components demands the effort, for whoever does so can reassemble the fabled Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad!
Two hundred years ago, the great dwarf smith Durgeddin the Black built Khundrukar, a hidden stronghold for his war of vengeance against all orckind. For years Durgeddin labored, until the orcs discovered Khundrukar and stormed the citadel, slaying all within. Legends say that Durgeddin's masterful blades and glittering treasures were never found.
In the beginning, a pair of sphinxes — one male and one female — guarded a desert temple in relative peace. They watched over a vault that held a magical ring that could change the world. The androsphinx — Bazymoros — succumbed to corruption; he denounced the trickster god who created him. Bazymoros forged a pact with the demon god, Baphomet, becoming violent and sought to claim the item in the name of his patron. In an effort to save the world, the gynosphinx Asmuzi defeated him. She locked Bazymoros away, never again to see the light of day. The androsphinx remained as an example of what not to become. It has been so long since this battle that much of the knowledge of Bazymoros has disappeared from the collective memory of the races that inhabit the world. All that remains is the knowledge of the dangerous gynosphinx made from the flesh of human and creature. . . and the treasure she keeps.
Delbert's friend Thordyn has been wrongfully arrested and placed in quarantine inside the Lazar's Walls, where all those who have contracted King's Evil are banished to. It is your missing to infiltrate the settlement, and free Thordyn. The task will not be simple, as a crime syndicate rules the Lazar's Walls with an iron fist.
Reign of the Ice King is a 10th level Adventure for 4-6 players Icewind Dale; The mad mage Akar Kessell has long been defeated, along with his evil army. Most of the dwarves of clan Battlehammer have migrated east to their ancient home of Mithral Hall after the death of Shimmergloom and her dark-dwarf minions. The Ten Towns valley has prospered over the years but has also seen the leaving of many of its heroes. Now, a new menace has moved in beneath the shadow of Kelvin’s Cairn and threatens devastation to the townsfolk of Termalaine. The adventurers are visiting the frozen region of Ten Towns when they see smoke rising from the town of Termalaine. Upon entering the town they find unimaginable destruction and many casualties. A Frost Giant, named Hrimnar has moved into the old Verbeeg Lair at the foot of Kelvin’s Cairn. He has demanded tribute from the poor peoples of Termalaine and let them know what happens if they do not pay him adequately. The quest to save a town from a tyrannical, giant overlord may spell the doom of the adventures as they face off against Hrimnar’s minions and even worse, his pet dragon, Ormrfrost.
A Slumbering Serpent Hidden in the thick rainforest of Serpent Isle is a crumbled yuan-ti citadel. These foul snakefolk have been dormant for decades, but have been awoken in order to fill out some foul prophecy. Delving deep into their most sacred temple; Oss’Ithek, is the only way to uncover the dark secret which they hold so dear. Do you have the nerve to face the serpent?
When the adventurers are tasked with destroying a symbol of Demogorgon, they end up falling foul of the great mage Mordenkainen himself – or at least a simulacrum of him. Will they agree to help maintain the great Balance of the Blood War, even if means sacrificing innocent lives in the process?
They say the legendary Ashes of Evensong have been found! In the year 689 DR, the song dragon Evensong was incinerated by Kallurous, a red dragon. In the wake of her death, Evensong’s ashes were gathered into a hundred urns by members of the Harpers. Originally intended as mere relics, the urns fell out of the Harpers’ possession when the caravan transporting them was ambushed. They were thereafter lost to history. Three months ago, stories began to circulate that at least one of the urns has been found. An artificer from the city of Elskar claims to have acquired some of Evensong’s ashes. According to his story the ashes are more potently magical than even residuum, created as they were from the mortal remains of a powerful magical creature burned to ash in the fires of an even more powerful dragon’s breath. This tale is dismissed by most, but certain factions and private interests aren’t willing to reject the possibility without investigation. If true, the artificer may be in possession of a highly dangerous and unfathomably valuable substance. More importantly, he may be in possession of the knowledge of where it came from, and the secret of what happened to the Ashes of Evensong all those centuries ago. In search of the truth behind a rumour that some of the Ashes of Evensong have been found, the player characters find that the Ashes are ultimately incidental to a far more worrying development. The trail of the Ashes leads them to the discovery of a fiend pact warlock operating among the ruling class of the city, a vault of forbidden magics the secrets of which have been breached, and a diabolic artefact about to be reclaimed in the name of a Duchess of Hell. With a focus on investigation, puzzles, and dangerous traps, Ashes of Evensong rewards players for caution and cleverness. Published by Spilled Ale Studios
The Zhentarim ask the party to investigate what happened in one their most important underdark outposts. If the party accepts, they'll have to deal with maddening darkness, grimlocks, an insane kenku assassin and unpredictable mixtures of potions. A short, fun dungeon romp that is easily adapted to other settings and other patrons. The combination of utter darkness and a villain based on sound makes for fun shenanigans on the side of the DM. Feasible as a one shot for an efficient party. Two tendays ago, Zhentarim agents were to transport a shipment of rare potions between their Underdark outpost and the surface world. The shipment has yet to arrive, and the outpost is not responding to any sending spells. Growing worried, the outpost’s overseer sends a group of hireswords to investigate and return it to Zhentarim hands. This particular adventure deals with the delusions of madness of Fraz Urb'luu. It also features Muurmic, the mad kenku first described in the December 2015 issue of Dragon+.
Lurking in the drowning folly that is the aristocratic enclave of the Sinks, the horrific Asylum, shunned by a citizenry terrified of the revelations it may contain, is where the nobles of the Blight bury their living secrets. But when too many overseers are killed, and in ways more gruesome than even the brutality of that location might evoke, someone must enter to investigate. Those who do soon learn that life — if it can be called that within its walls of that bleak place — is even worse than they feared and the truths that nestle within its inmates are far more distressing than mere madness.
Uncover the curious tale... When the party are shipwrecked they take shelter in an old forgotten cottage. They soon find themselves uncovering the mysterious death. One thing is for sure, they are not alone... Back to the sea is a 3-5 hour one shot, recommended for Level 3-4 adventurers. It offers a refreshing and different look at Ghosts in D&D. Contains 3 beautiful original digitally illustrated Maps. Unique Monsters and interesting combat scenario. Encourages player creativity and problem solving. Screen reader version.
A group of adventurers find themselves drawn to Axeholme, a small, desolate village with a rash of disappearances. An ancient burial mound nearby has been opened, its stone door found shattered, and, if the villagers are to be believed, the disappearances are the work of a wizard’s curse. But things are not always what they seem.