"Enter a garden of earthly delights. The sun has stopped setting over the king's favorite garden. It seemed like a harmless curiosity at first but the animals have turned violent and strange alien beings have appeared. The duke has placed a bounty for enterprising sell-swords to end the curse of endless daylight. Hideous Daylight is an adventure module for Old-School Essentials, Cairn, and compatible with other pen-and-paper RPGs with old-school sensibilities. Player characters will navigate a 20 point hex crawl to end the strange curse affecting the land. An adventure for low-level characters. 33 pages of non-linear, character driven adventure in the OSR tradition. Two keyed dungeons and a 20 point hex-crawl. A bucolic fantasy setting easily insertable into fantasy RPG campaigns. Dangerous new monsters, weird magic items, and an unpredictable random encounters table. Features two gazebos."
INTRODUCTION Some say the world is dying. Others say the desert is growing. In either case, merchants and princes always desire new ways to cross the Great Sand Sea. Today, someone has found a way to fly over it. Who will tempt fate and join the maiden voyage of the Desert Angel? No one knows what dangers or treasure have lain hidden in the heart of the desert for all these eons. If you survive, you will be the first. ONE-SHOT This adventure is intended as a one-shot, but it can easily be inserted into a campaign. Any time your players wish to travel to a distant city, you can simply say there is a large desert in their way, but luckily there is a new flying ship they can travel on. Good luck with that! DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for low-level characters (1-3). It is primarily geared for social encounters and combat. It runs 2 to 5 hours. Players ride a flying ship across the desert. Monsters attack. Passengers plot treachery. Mysterious locations appear. You can keep the tone serious or play up this ridiculous sequence of disasters for laughs.
Are you in need of a breeding factory that spews out torrents of mutated weretoads into your campaign world? Do your adventurers enjoy exploring slimy, wet ruins inhabited by depraved, vile creatures? The Towers of the Weretoads is a mini-dungeon you can plop down in the edges of any of the lakes/fresh water bodies in your campaign world. It's filled with treasure, danger and slime. The Towers of the Weretoads is presented in an innovative mapping style that eliminates the needs for flipping between pages as you run it. Everything you need to know about a dungeon level is right there in front of you on the same single page! This allows you, the DM, to focus on creating a dynamic, interesting and challenging dungeon experience for your players. This PDF includes a 3 level dungeon and 2 original and disgusting enemies for adventurers to fight. The randomness and non-linearity of the encounters means this adventure could be an appropriate challenge for a wide level range of adventurers. Published by Gorgzu Games
The Red Bastion - the prison of a dwarf ghost princess... A 15-room dungeon for levels 2-3.
Lured by a scroll where the long dead sorcerer Urgaan boasts about treasures hidden in his tower, the PCs arrive at the outpost near the Awaroth Woods. A 1 page adventure for OSR style games.
More than a mile away from the sweaty market town that bears his name, Merchant Lord Salmo spends most of his time in his formidable manse, luxuriating in wealth and style...wealth that nobody, not his slaves, nor his workmen, nor his rivals, would mind him losing... The Great Mansion Heist is an infiltration and theft adventure written for first or second level characters. In it players are set to raid the isolated country mansion of Merchant Lord Salmo, the thoroughly detestable local rich ruler. The adventure is designed to function as a one shot but can also be seeded into any campaign where the local ruler just needs a good burgling.
(2017 ENNIE Awards Judges' Spotlight Winner!) THE MOST AWESOME ADVENTURE EVER Since the invention of the adventure module, there have only been five adventures that were rated the most awesome, the most epic. Broodmother Sky Fortress leaves them all behind. It’s got these creatures that are half shark. Half elephant. All badass. They fly around in this cloud fortress, wrecking everything in the campaign until the players step up to stop them. It’s all terribly exciting! And all brought to you by none other than the world-famous Arch-Mage of Old-School, Jeff Rients! As an added bonus, we’ve included a Greatest Hits of the ol’ Arch-Mage’s essays and game tools to build your campaign into the unstoppable juggernaut you’ve always wanted it to be. Your game won’t suck anymore! Broodmother SkyFortress: Buying any other adventure is just throwing your money away (includes "3.PF" edition stats by Jukka Särkijärvi because somebody somehow convinced me that would be a good idea back when this thing was being crowdfunded) Writing by Jeff Rients Art by Ian MacLean Graphic Design by Alex Mayo Cartography by Jez Gordon
Legends tell of a wizard so arrogant that he felt the entire sky was naught but a lens for him to view the stars. So great was the hubris and defiance of this man that the gods smote him with the power of storm and fire. Oh did the wizard laugh at such a pathetic gesture. He did not fear the gods, for he drew his knowledge from something greater. Something darker. The legend of this wizard grew, first whispered by men in fear, and later in awe. The wizard, they said, attacked the gods just as they had attacked him. And his joy only grew as the land around him died. But then there was no more news. No more talk. Something had finally brought the wizard low, for though the sky still blazed down on him and his abode, he no longer blazed back. And now you’re going to walk right through this wizard’s front door.
A small local area with ten locations and a big wizard dungeon with 19 rooms. The module is based around some rules lite system exclusive to the module, but for obvious reasons can be run in the system of your choice with little modification. (Some best guess approximations have been made for the creatures for search optimization.) Official description: "This adventure is a work of PARODY based on “Caverns of Draconis,” featured in Season 2, Episode 14 of NBC's TV series, “Community.” THIS IS NOT A TSR PRODUCT. This product was made in accordance with Wizards of the Coast's OGL Version 1.0a. The following game and adventure have been designed to reimagine what the fictional module featured in the episode might look like. This rules-lite RPG is meant to serve as an introduction for newcomers and fans of the show alike. The game can be played with 2-9 players and has everything you need to get started except for dice. "
... for hundreds of years, the monks of Sheargardt Manor at Luci Vale have provided spiritual guidance (in the name of their deity—Caelis) and world-class ales to the folk who live in nearby Luci Village. At the head of the high-mountain valley Luci Keep is tasked with keeping the pass over the high mountains safe fortravelers throughout the year. However, in recent months, word has come down from the mountains to the port city of Galan that the Abbot Christoph has allowed evil to enter the Manor. And now, a representative of the Caelian order is sent to learn the truth of the matter, and remove Christoph if necessary... Published by Usherwood Publishing
A little cave-borne adventure about harvesting valuable cysts from a sleeping creature, trying not to be killed by the horribly mutated infectious things that already tried that, and helping a wizard who recently lost all his friends and just wants to get his spellbook back. For use with your fantasy RPG of choice. How would I use this thing? -As a terrible one-shot without consequences! -Drop "Find the wizard Felix Longworm cowering by stones and a mournful tree" into your mountainous random encounter table of choice, and pull this out when the fates decide. -If the cave is ignored something else will eventually be birthed out of it, so you get free campaign fodder if your players shake their heads and say "nope". Apart from the adventure it also contains a glorious suit of cursed armour, horrific explosives, four new spells, an adorable cut-out map for your players to put together as they explore, and some pretty neat light tracking mechanics, so there's that.
STRANGENESS AND TERROR FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! Borgenwold is cursed, they say. Cursed by pride and greed to cower in fear of the past. A fell monstrosity from beyond the grave has risen to devour this town and all who dwell here. Open this book and to find... a town in the grip of horror, drunken monster hunters in way over their heads, debts, desperate bargains, miraculous goblins feasting upon godflesh, the treasures of the dead, and the price to be paid by those who seek to claim them. The Beast of Borgenwold is a 59-page Old School Roleplaying Adventure designed for characters of between 1st and 3rd level, and designed to be compatible with Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome, and other B/X and OSR affiliated games. mini hexcrawl (12 hexs) plus a small dungeon
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.
Beneath Castle Bergfried lies the vault of the grief-struck Baron – heavily infested with a crystalline virus from the past. Here an adventure party must choose between rival forces that seek to explore the vault and decide the future of the Inside World. ‘Vault of the Mad Baron’ is the second installment in a series of three modules in the Inner World. It can be played as a stand-alone adventure or be added as a small barony to an ongoing campaign. The scenario can be used with Swords & Wizardry or any other early variant of game rules and is suitable for PCs level 2-5. Inside you will find: A 60+ page old-school module with a layout optimized for fast and easy interfacing. An adaptable barony complete with town, castle and dungeon. Unique districts with encounters and sights. 6 major factions fully detailed with headquarter, plans, and missions for the PCs. Detailed description of a castle and associated dungeon levels. Downloadable maps for both players and the Referee. Locations allowing the PCs to travel to another era within the setting. Unique new creatures and magic items.
The ancient world of Harth withers beneath its dying sun…but it’s not dead yet. High in the night sky, a vampire’s tower is torn apart by a rampaging angel. People and monsters are trapped. Magical treasure lies scattered everywhere. It’s all yours for the taking, if you can find a way out before the angel finds you. This adventure is a one-shot dungeon-delve into a wizard’s tower. In space. With vampires. This is an alien-survival-horror-movie of an adventure (or at least, you can choose to play it that way). ADVENTURE TYPE: One-Shot / Low Level / Level 3 / Dungeon Delve / Tower / Vampires / Survival-Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for low-level characters (around level 3). It is focused mostly on exploration, with several social encounters and opportunities for deadly combat. It runs 3 to 5 hours. There are 17 unique magical items, 17 unique monsters, and 17 unique rooms. I swear I did not plan that, it just worked out this way.
Your party approaches a barrow at the base of the mountain. A raging storm brews overhead, and as you approach, a bolt of lightning strikes down on the peak of the mound, lighting up the world all around you. A thunderclap momentarily deafens you, and as your eyes adjust to the resuming grey of the dark day, you see a flicker of firelight emerging from the two gaping holes built into the side of the hill. You’ve found the pirates camping within the Barrow of the Raging Storm. As I delivered it to my players, the premise of this Midnight Sun adventure is that some pirates have been attacking ships returning from raids. They have been stealing the loot and the corpses of any slain Nords. Among their victims, a ship from Valthis returns to tell them that the pirates sailed upriver (to hex 506), where I placed the Barrow in my Shadowdark RPG campaign. The adventurers started from there and explored the dungeon thoroughly. The adventure was created using the tools described in the Shadowdark RPG core rules. I created it in about 6 hours between 2024-03-08 and 2024-03-09 and ran it for my group on the 9th. It took about 2.25 hours to play to completion. The party consisted of two level 1 characters and one level 2 character. I had so much fun making and running this that I will continue creating more Midnight Sun Adventures, so stay tuned!
Things are not right at Du Sharid Manor. Months ago, a deranged parish priest and his most devout followers formed a heretical cult. These self-proclaimed “Seekers of the White Heart” chose the desolate Wild Hills to practice their secret rites; but the strange goings on at the Wild Hills did not escape the prying eyes of the more pious villagers who set out to confront the cultists. Once there, the villagers witnessed something terrifying and unexpected. Since the events of that night, the cultists have vanished, but the remaining serfs of Du Sharid now live in constant paranoia. Your party has been hired by the local bishop to to learn the truth about what happened at Du Sharid Manor. For use with Swords & Wizardry (or the like) and designed for the experienced Referee, Jewel of the Lunar Rift is a first-level campaign-starter and an introduction to the Messoria setting. Included as a bonus are campaign journals from the author's own sessions.
In Claine Forest near Padduck Village there has appeared a pit. No-one knows where it came from, it just did. It is not so deep that you cannot see the bottom, but people fear it and avoid it. No-one who has climbed into it has come back, having been dragged beneath the surface by unseen hands. A necromancer has come to the forest, seeking the pit. She does not quite know what she expects from it, but what she hopes for is protection from death. Player-characters may wish to get involved, and thus this constitutes an adventure for old-school systems, for 5-6 PCs of 2nd level 2 or slightly fewer of 3rd. The PCs won’t necessarily all die, and the players will almost certainly survive. Reviews elsewhere: "It pours out flavour in nearly every word, creating delicious situations for the party to interact with. ... We got a village, two rival groups of adventurers, a weird-ass forest, and somewhere in the forest a pit, your final destination. From this, joy is made. Each one of those elements has their component parts well done and, because of this the whole is a wonder." — Bryce Lynch of tenfootpole
Until about three years ago, the peculiar town of Port Greely was renowned as a prolific exporter of crustaceans. Then the Greely lobstermen severed all ties with outside partners. Subsequent attempts at renegotiation were shunned. More recently, a small group of Fishmongers’ Guild representatives from the City-State of Khromarium has gone missing in Port Greely, and answers have been less than forthcoming. At present, the Guild seeks answers. It wants to know what became of its representatives, and it wishes to re-establish its lucrative partnership with the Port Greely lobstermen. Your party have been contracted to help resolve The Mystery at Port Greely in this swords and sorcery style adventure!
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"