A community for lazy dungeon masters
167 adventures found
Cover of The Tomb of the Daughter
The Tomb of the Daughter
OSR
Any Level
8 pages
0

The adventure text was written by a neural network (Talk to Transformer) and compiled by a human editor. It is surprisingly usable. The adventure is centered upon the dangerous and thoroughly weird Tomb of the Daughter, the burial place and temple of an ancient Goddess. Explore several rooms connected by teleport systems, fight strange creatures, and perhaps thwart a demon summoning.

Cover of A Lion in the Ropes
A Lion in the Ropes
OSR
Levels 2–4
27 pages
0

Lord Galveston's lands are plagued by murders. For the past several months people have been disappearing. Some bodies have turned up, their corpses found along the banks of the river. Strange tracks of a cat-like creature have been found around the villages, and rumors abound that a charon fiend, a dreaded beast of chaos, has come from the nearby wood and settled in the area. The latest victim is the Deacon of the Four Saints Church in Capendu. His body, found in the river, sent the alarmed villagers in search of aid. The adventure unfolds in the lands of the aged Lord Galveston and plunges everyone into a twisted tale of wild beasts and the restless dead.

Cover of U1 Shadows of The Halfling Hall
U1 Shadows of The Halfling Hall
OSR
Levels 1–3
26 pages
0

Brambletoe Hall has ever been deep, warm and filled with mirth. Here, the good mayor Willie Brambletoe has long presided over a board of warm mutton, fresh apples, berries, peaches and the like, as well as wondrous breads, warm butter and cool drink. Mayor Willie invites all, inviting may various and sundry folks to sit and eat with him, or to gather about his great hall and make merry, pass the time and exchange news of distant happenings in exotic lands. But something has changed in that noble Halfling's Halls and a Shadow of Evil has taken up abode there. Not many days past, in those deep hours before the dawn, the sounds of merriment changed to cries of despair. A haunting came to the Good man's home and left an air filled with the noise of terror and a foul odor of unrepentant evil. Abandoned now, a shadow has hung over the hall ever since. Foul play or murder, none knew. But the Shadow of Fear has spread, stalking the environs of Newbriar. And the locals now say Newbriar has come at last to know the shallow welcome of the other world. In fear, the folk of Newbriar have called for aid, sending riders forth to find courageous heroes willing to rid the town and its sufferages of the terror of the Shadows of the Halfling Hall.

Cover of The Demon Stones
The Demon Stones
OSR
Levels 4–5
79 pages
0

When huge stones fall out of the night sky, A deadly curse settles over Gravencross. Help the village exorcise the Demon Stones. “The sun had set an hour ago, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled on the dark moor. A storm this late in the season was unusual, but this one seemed different. The clouds were more menacing, tinged with anger, the rain colder and more biting than usual. Skerrill had to find the lost calf and get him back to the farm before his father came back from the city on business. He’d been looking for two hours now, and he was right in the middle of the moor when the storm hit. He knew he should have turned back as soon as darkness fell, but then he was never the brightest boy in the valley. If only he had remembered to lock the farm gate. The calf was now likely dead anyway having stumbled among the boulders and rocks, panicking in the dark, and then fallen in a floodwater stream and drowned. Either way, he was in more trouble than he could imagine. Suddenly, a bright flash of white light and a roaring peal of thunder were preceded by an explosion as a huge object fell from the sky and impacted the ground of the moor no more than a stone’s throw from him. Dirt, mud, water, and debris erupted from the impact site, flying high into the air and then covering the moor for hundreds of feet all around. Skerrill was knocked to the ground instantly and covered in the fallout from the blast. His ears rang and his head spun, but he staggered to his feet in a daze. He stumbled to where the blast had happened only moments before, and in a depression in the ground lay a huge stone glowing orange as if hot. Skerrill passed out. Two more thunderous explosions crashed in the distance.”

Cover of Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur
Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur
OSR
Level 1
13 pages
0

A 1st-level dungeon crawl for Shadowdark RPG where the characters delve into a ruined citadel hunting for legendary treasures while avoiding the wrath of the infamous scarlet minotaur! Inside the citadel are secrets about the downfall of the warrior-cultists who once ruled it, three legendary weapons they wielded, and several factions of intelligent creatures to turn into allies or enemies. This adventure is part of the free, digital Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set, which comes with two 68-page booklets (Player and Game Master guides), 8 pre-made characters with gorgeous art, and a form-fillable character sheet. Shadowdark RPG is what classic, old-school fantasy gaming would look like after being redesigned with 50 years of innovation. It's the world's greatest roleplaying game in a whole new light! Download the free Quickstart set here: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark

Cover of F1 The Perils of the Co-Kan Run!
F1 The Perils of the Co-Kan Run!
OSR
16 pages
0

On the border of Colorado and Kansas lies the infamous stretch of old Route 385 known as The Co-Kan Run. Few are foolhardy enough to brave that gauntlet of roving gangs, walking dead, and Combine forces, but now a girl in need and an old friend force your hand. Signing up with a wasteland convoy, you'll drop the hammer and head eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin, and you're about to do what they say can' be done. This is a Savage Worlds, Deadlands: Hell on Earth adventure module for Seasoned Characters. Product includes removable cover, 3D maps, 2D blue maps, and two interior booklets (Field Guide & Adventure). Official Savage Worlds Licensed Product.

The Astral Tower
OSR
Levels 4–6
8 pages
0

The abandoned Tower of Ulvarum Orvernus stands atop an asteroid nearly a quarter mile in diameter, located roughly 5 million miles from the planet’s surface. The asteroid maintains Earth-like gravity and a breathable atmosphere, with habitable temperatures. This is all sustained through the harnessed power of a bound Air Elemental and Earth Elemental. If either of these Elementals are freed, the asteroid’s environment will quickly become inhospitable. The PCs may find themselves drawn to the asteroid through a forgotten portal, seeking a way to return home. Alternatively, they might be lured there by rumors of a powerful item or hidden knowledge within the tower’s extensive libraries. A multi-level tower filled with traps and strange encounters including animated armor, alien plant life, giant spiders, and a doppelganger.

Cover of SM20 - The Ruined City
SM20 - The Ruined City
OSR
Levels 4–12
40 pages
0

There is a Ruined City in the central northern Borderlands, often called Ghoultown by explorers of the area, but its original name is Ust Lesesi and it was once the second city of the Empire of Karan. Long since plundered, ruined and abandoned, the place has become home to a sinister mix of creatures, some are trading with each other, some are resting between skirmishes, all are schiming and all of them are trying to survive. This is a toy box for the GM - there are three settings in one - the Abandoned City, with stange creatures wandering the streets; the Monstrous community with several significant and detailed NPCs and their followers all trading, quarrelling and trying to get along with each other; and the city of the (un)dead - there's a whole army hidden in here, what are they being prepared for? The Ruined City is a 40-page game resource rather than a complete adventure, although it has almost everything you need for a simple hack or a more complex web of intrigue. Along with a sumptuous set of maps is a set of encounters, monster and NPC stat-blocks, and ideas for how to use the place in a campaign. If you need a ruined city in a hurry, this is the supplement for you! The Ruined City is designed for OSR but is also compatible with AD&D 1st and 2nd edition and pretty much any TTFRPG you fancy. The encounters are all pretty high level but most of the encounters will not be immediately hostile. There is scope in this setting for far more than simple hack and slash. These resources allow you to build a set of encounters as complex as you like. You can simply try and hack your way through, but there are some VERY nasty encounters in here. You could maybe set up your own base here, or just try and take over an existing group. Perhaps you want to start up a trade route, or maybe even start a Civil War! All of these possibilities, and many others, are catered for here. SM20 The Ruined City is released by Dunromin University Press. We are a very small publisher based in the UK and our aim is to produce VERY high quality products as the best value possible.

Cover of Floating Gardens of Bahb-Elonn
Floating Gardens of Bahb-Elonn
OSR
Level 1
14 pages
0

This scenario was originally written for use as a competition event at Games Day 1987. We have published the adventure so that you will be able to reproduce the competition. The scenario also serves as an introduction to the forthcoming supplement detailing the land of Lustria. (see WFRP World Map, p272). At Games Day the party had to play the part of a small band of pygmies, and we have included details of this party so that you can use them too. You should carefully read the notes on Witchdoctors, Ancestor Spirits and the spell Control Spirits before starting play. If a conventional party is used here there is a significant chance that players will lose favourite characters. Much of the scenario is geared towards pygmies, (some tunnel heights, the presence of pygmy ancestors and so on), and a party without access to pygmy-magic may find some areas extremely difficult. Pgs. 11-27 Published by Games Workshop

Cover of Fever-Dreaming Marlinko
Fever-Dreaming Marlinko
OSR
Levels 2–4
72 pages
0

Visit Marlinko, a borderlands city where life takes a strange fever-dream cast, in this 72-page urban adventure fantasy supplement. Part city-setting, part full-blown adventure, Fever-Dreaming Marlinko is a stand-alone companion to the Slavic acid fantasy weirdness of the Slumbering Ursine Dunes. Contains background and hooks for the city's four city quarters, two complete dungeon adventure sites, two new players classes (Mountebank and Robodwarf), Chaos Index with escalating events/triggers scattered throughout the city, news generator with full news briefs and hooks, and tiger-wrestling mini-game.

Cover of Polsin's Dagger
Polsin's Dagger
OSR
Levels 2–4
16 pages
0

A 12-page adventure for OSE CONTAIN THE UNDEAD! Between jagged peaks hides a small dagger shaped temple. Inside live the followers of Polsin, half-elf god of vengeance. They spend their days plotting and obsessing over those that wronged them, but at night they tend their great cemetery. A few weeks ago a new adept stole the cemetery key and opened Polsin's tomb to steal his dagger. He died in the attempt, but now the graveyard's denizens have risen from the dead and treathen the outside world. Take the dagger! Face the tomb's defences and retrieve the lost dagger of Polsin, a legendary weapon capable of defeating any kind of undead and bring peace to the cemetery. Polsin's Dagger is a low level Old School Essentials adventure for a party of 1-4 players. Perfect for a one shot or a random encounter in an hex crawl.

Cover of Tomb of the Serpent Kings
Tomb of the Serpent Kings
OSR
Level 1
22 pages
0

People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.

Cover of Castle of the Mad Archmage
Castle of the Mad Archmage
OSR
152 pages
0

A vast, sprawling mega-dungeon beneath the ruins of a nearby castle. Reports have surfaced of stockpiles of wealth within the passages. Regions previously devoid of monsters are reported to teem with renewed activity. Magical and mundane traps have brought foolhardy explorers to their doom. Changes within the passages and chambers have rendered old maps and knowledge dangerously unreliable if not outright useless. To the bold and daring, only one message needs to be heard: the castle and its dungeons are once more ripe for exploration, and new legends are ready to be made. Note: This adventure requires three books for it to be complete (sold as a package): Adventure Book, Map Book, and Illustration Book. Published by BRW Games

Cover of Temple of 1000 Swords
Temple of 1000 Swords
OSR
Level 3
25 pages
0

"An ancient temple to the forgotten god of swords lies hidden behind a waterfall. Great piles of swords choke its halls and spill out into nearby streams and waterways. What strangeness still treads and what swords will you draw in the Temple of 1000 Swords? -A tarot-inspired fantasy RPG dungeon delve for 3rd level characters -Created for Old-School Essentials (B/X), compatible with RPGs with old-school sensibilities -A 19 room, keyed dungeon, easily insertable into a fantasy RPG campaign, sandbox, or “west marches” style table -d100 weird, magic, and cursed swords to discover. Roll to search the piles! -Anything is a sword--create weird sword creations through the temple's cursed magic -New monsters, factions, spirits, and curses -Includes a high-resolution unlabeled map for VTT use" "Temple of 1000 Swords" is set in a mystical temple filled with countless swords and intriguing magic. It offers a dense, exploration-heavy dungeon experience with unique mechanics and a rich backdrop of ongoing conflicts. Players can choose to ally with the Drukks (humanoid carnivorous ducks) or Merfolk (jocks) and manipulate both for their ends, or try to avoid conflict altogether. Gladio, the god of swords, issues quests that can alter the course of the adventure, demanding moral and strategic decisions from the players.

Cover of Puzzle Dungeon: The Seers Sanctum
Puzzle Dungeon: The Seers Sanctum
OSR
Levels 1–4
12 pages
0

It's like a 'Legend of Zelda' puzzle dungeon, but instead of Link, you play as a group of grubby grave robbers. Also, there's way more eyeball stuff. Puzzle Dungeon: The Seers Sanctum is a system neutral adventure for characters of level 1 to 4. It will work with any old school games like Old School Essentials or B/X or the most recent version of the world's most popular roleplaying game. What's in it: * 10 room dungeon crawl where each location has its own mysteries to poke and experiment with * Cohesive puzzles that build on each other * Lets players to discover their own solutions in true OSR fashion * Magic items and equipment that change how the players interact with their environment and previously explored areas * Use as a 4-6 hour one-shot or the start to a planar hopping campaign for wherever you'd like to go

Cover of The Sunbathers
The Sunbathers
OSR
Level 3
16 pages
0

A level 3 temple incursion adventure by Brad Kerr. In a golden temple of healing on a sundrenched island, blissful amnesiac patients are held prisoner by monstrous caretakers. Intruding PCs will need their wits and their swords to unravel the temple’s secrets, snatch its treasures, and escape. For Old-School Essentials (OSE) Included as one of four adventures in "Old-School Essentials Adventure Anthology 1"

The Well of Frogs
OSR
Levels 1–2
32 pages
0

“Down below, beneath Cassidum’s stinking alleys and crumbling palaces, lie twisting passages and musty chambers with the secrets of the old days, and the subterranean dens of lowlife scum. But now, sordid disappearances haunt the Piazza dei Rospi, while the Literators’ Guild and Barbers’ Guild wage a bloody turf war for the surrounding streets. The key to these mysteries is a richly carved marble well decorated with the carvings of four ugly bullfrogs, whose depths hide things worse still. Some who descend shall win riches and battle-glory, while others will only find horrid death… down in The Well of Frogs!” A 32-page city and dungeon adventure for 1st to 2nd level characters by Istvan Boldog-Bernad, The Well of Frogs describes a neighbourhood of the crumbling city of Cassidum, its teeming alleyways the haunts of thieves and lowlives. But below the surface lie worse things still, left over from the days of the old empire or repurposed by dangerous eccentrics. Visiting the underground could not be easier: the Well of Frogs, in the middle of the infamous Piazza Dei Rospi, lies in plain sight, and nobody will prevent the brave and very foolish from descending into its maw. This is a module which has killed a respectable amount of player characters in playtest, more at its debut at North Texas RPG Con, and is ready to kill again. It can be used as a one-off, or as a nexus point for an extended campaign. The adventure features illustrations by Dorottya Fulop (who also did the cover), Ferenc Fabian, Vincentas Saladis, Graphite Prime, as well as the Dead Victorians and the Robot Overlords.

Cover of The Incandescent Grottoes
The Incandescent Grottoes
OSR
Levels 1–2
48 pages
0

A bubbling stream cascades into a hole in the earth, leading to a series of underground watercourses and scintillating grottoes. Adventurers who delve within may discover odd mosses and fungi, a ruined temple complex, and the lair of a crystal-eating dream dragon.

Cover of A2 Slag Heap
A2 Slag Heap
OSR
Levels 3–5
24 pages
0

The hunt is on! Agents have hired out the infamous Redcaps to raid along the Hruesen River and Baron Botkin wants them brought to justice. A mad run by the goblins left a trail of ruin along the river road but the time to act is now, before the trail goes cold. the evil doers broke off the raid and now lie in hiding somewhere in the Barren Wood. There in the deeps of the forest stands the legendary Slag Heap - an ancient complex of unknown origin and terrifying reputation for years ago the Heap served the Horned God's minions as a bastion against the fey of the Barren Wood. But now all the forest is hostile to outsiders, whether good or ill. The men of the Barren Wood are fierce, independent, and distrustful of outsiders. Facing them is a daunting task in the best of times and now they seem to be protecting one of their own. Discovering the real powers in this region only brings the characters closer to doom as they travel to piles and heaps of slag and detritus that was once a glorious abode and temple to the dark powers before the age of man. Also available for 5E

Cover of Grimmsgate
Grimmsgate
OSR
Levels 1–3
23 pages
0

Deep in the wooded wilderness, the village of Grimmsgate is an outpost town on a seldom-traveled trail, right at the edge of nowhere. The village’s half-ruined temple of Law, dilapidated inn, drunken blacksmith, exiled trader and a few fur-trappers are enough to keep the bloody-minded denizens of the dark forest at bay, but nobody really expects the village to still be there in another ten years. The woods have become too dangerous for the trappers who once caught animals for fur, and merchants no longer travel the poorly-maintained road. What great evil and what fabulous treasures are to be found in these lands? A brave band of adventurers might make their fortunes here. Or perhaps they might never return… Grimmsgate is an introductory adventure for the Swords & Wizardry tabletop roleplaying game. The Swords & Wizardry rules are needed to play this adventure.