This adventure is more of a classic dungeon crawl, themed around the accidentally terrifying dreamscape of an elven girl trapped in a nightmare of her own making. The dungeon shifts and exits move about as the party explores, making each run through the dungeon a unique experience and allowing for infinite replays of the same adventure.
An investigative city crawl adventure for Shadowdark RPG (or any OSR-style system), designed for experienced players levels 1-2 Set in the decaying city of Brannam, players unravel a web of fear, blood, and buried secrets. A local alchemist has begun killing in secret, rekindling old fears of an old terror. The city's decline threatens to spiral into collapse, and far below, something older and hungrier waits to wake. This adventure includes: 3 separate dungeons (The flooded Sewers, the forgotten Catacombs, and the cursed Ruins of Edric von Braech's keep) Open ended design and layered mysteries with multiple outcomes and failure states A fully explorable city with random encounters, evolving factions and escalating panic. Custom rules for spell mishaps, nightly murder checks and decay events as Brannam unravels Modular content designed to drop into your campaign
The adventure takes players from a town devastated by an unexpected flood, through a drowned land where nature is turned upside down and desperate families cling to the roofs of their ruined homes, hiding from the monstrous products of a disordered world, through the strange tomb of an ancient race, to a profundal zone, hidden for millennia and now exposed, and finally to the Observatory itself, an eerie abandoned treasure palace, where they will encounter a pale and unexpected terror which will seek to claim their lives. The adventure is suitable for a lucky mid-range party, a stupid high-level party or an exceedingly clever low level party. It is difficult, with a meaningful possibility of character death. Should you find them, and defeat their guardians, the treasures of an ancient culture will be yours. At the final point of the Observatory is a glimpse of another world. Published by False Machine Publishing
The Haunted Hamlet and other hexes details four unique modular locations for your game. Made for old school essentials, but can easily be used with other old-school systems or even 5E. The four locations detailed in the zine focus on gameable content and being easy to use at the table. The locations are not connected to one another and can be sprinkled onto your campaign map however you like, or run as one shots. The PDF is graphic and art heavy and utilizes random tables and other tools to make it easier for GMs to run in a pinch. Details: 40 pages Single column text 8.5 x 5.5 aspect Black & White Bookmarks Four hex locations Random tables A rival NPC party A sky merchant A one page town Two hirelings
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!
“Rats in the Walls”: A dockside tavern in Khromarium is plagued by rats of a most unusual breed. These abominable rodents have ruined the tavern keeper’s business and his life. The man is desperate, and he offers a substantial reward for the elimination of his horrific problem.
The ancient world of Harth is dying, but you’re going to die even sooner if you can’t escape from Frostwyck. You’re lost in a frozen forest of deadly predators and mysterious recluses. Your only refuge is the tiny village of Frostwyck, where metal is rare and kindness is rarer. And there are worse things in the shadows than mere bloodthirsty beasts. Witches haunt the groves of the north. Most keep to themselves, content to guard their secrets and powers. But one torments them all. Dama Zhadna has cursed the village so that none can escape. And now you’re trapped here. You’re going to die here... ...unless you can escape from the Witches of Frostwyck. Just a few things players can do: - Escape from a prison barge - Free demon souls from a giant spider-house - Find a charming witch-lord hiding with his pet dragon - Evade a merciless warrior zealot who is hunting them - Discover the ancient secrets of the Elder Fey - Collect the "cunning tools" created by the hedge witches - Collect the eldritch weapons crafted by the ancient elves - Save a little girl made of snow Intense Factions! Will you help the Temple of Virune to eradicate the last of the witches? Will you help the witch-lords retake power over the north? Will you help the Gray Sisters protect the village from the dangers of the forest? Or will you venture underground and help the Elder Fey to escape their prison and take their revenge? Four New Mentors! While in Frostwyck, players can meet many skilled NPCs who might be willing to train a worthy adventurer. If you can complete 3 days of training, you can learn one of 16 skills from either a Hunter, a Fighter, a Priest, or a Witch. New PC Background: The Vulgoth Hedge Witch! In addition to some unusual medicinal gear, select one of 6 creatures of the northern forest as your familiars, as well as one of 6 "cunning" items that you enchanted (and might explode in your face!).
Something fell. A sickly gloaming lit up the night like mock daylight, just for a moment, and then the hills trembled. Now, an alien entity lies brooding in a crater gouged out of the moor. Local folk are enraptured with the toothsome jelly exuded by this being, but are blind to the true nature of the events unfolding in their rustic little backwater.
Designed to remedy the lack of "end game" content for Old School-style gaming, The Dreams of Ruin is a setting-neutral adventure supplement aimed at characters of level 12 to 16. The material can be used with groups from level 8 to max level (and beyond, if the system supports ascent to divinity for high-level character). Capable of challenging even the most experienced players and most powerful characters, The Dreams of Ruin are an unforgettable addition to any high-level campaign. But beware! The dreams are mighty and can overwhelm even fearsome warlords and powerful wizard-kings. One touch of them, and your campaign world will never be the same.
This morning, the forces of Law and Chaos clashed at Castle Yennagor. The battle raged all day, but as darkness fell, a cataclysmic explosion destroyed most of the castle and leveled both armies. Now, as night claims the vale, flickers of life return. Survivors make camp, flee the field, or continue the fight. Scavengers creep over the dead. And one question remains unanswered: what happened inside the castle? This is a dark sandbox adventure. Players take the role of battlefield survivors. They can choose which side they are on (or neither), and they can choose their goal, such as to escape the field with their lives, to plunder the dead, or to reach the castle and finish the mission. ADVENTURE TYPE: Mid Level / Combat / Diplomancy / Battlefield / War / Dark Fantasy / Factions DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for mid-level characters around Level 6-7 Players navigate a battlefield full of competing factions and gruesome situations 30 unique encounter locations 70+ original magic items 30+ original monsters One map and multiple illustrations Estimated play time: 1-4 sessions (4-16 hours)
With the rising of the Blood Moon, the accursed abode of the Blood King returns to this world. The lord of all vampires comes to claim the blood that is owed to him. His halls contain treasures and secrets that would make any ambitious adventurer abandon reason and caution to seek them out. Will you risk your soul for gold and glory in the Halls of the Blood King?
Set in the hamlet of Stillroot, players arrive seeking rest and find rot. The townsfolk are kind. The inn is warm. And the bodies are already being used. This issue includes: Detailed hamlet with keyed locations designed to fit into any campaign An inhuman antagonist that puppets the dead with shadow-tendrils Simple mechanics and maps for tracking how shadows spread 24 pages. Easy to drop into any ongoing game, just tell your players they’ve finally found a place to rest.
A curse is upon the land. In the old barrow long forgotten a forgotten general awaits trying to confront death, and until heroes can guide his way, the land suffers. Grave of the Heartless takes the adventurers to an unusual dungeon bordering the realm of the dead, and here a heart beats. Dare our heroes step into the darkness, where one step too far can lead them to face Death. Grave of the Heartless is a low-level OSR adventure suited for Labyrinth Lord and other oldschool retro clones. The adventure was originally written for the Danish Living Campaign The Hinterlands, and it is for the first time presented in English. The adventure introduces the players to a different tradition of adventures, and it one with a focus on exploration and encountering the unknown. The adventure includes new magical items and new monsters to challenge your players. Grave of the Heartless can be played as a sequel to Tomb of the Dragon's Heart and The Flooded Temple.
The adventures in Dalentown continue in The Darkness Beneath Dalentown. Workers in the town’s sewers have stumbled upon the long abandoned halls of the dwarves that once settled beneath this region. What they’ve found is a haunted library. What they’ve woken is something far more sinister! The Darkness Beneath Dalentown features hordes of oozes, undead, and demons festering for years in an ancient dwarven mining stronghold. Now, they are slowly working their way to the surface, and the folk of Dalentown are in dire peril!
"A temple destroyed by divine wrath... An ancient, imprisoned evil and a powerful idol. Mysteries abound in the tombs below the temple of the Iron God, protector of the dead. Discover the dreadful fate of the Iron God's priesthood and the reasons behind their downfall in this intriguing adventure designed for low-level characters. Tomb of the Iron God covers a large catacomb area on two levels, with 58 keyed locations and six new monsters. This is a Swords & Wizardry (0e) dungeon crawl for four to five characters of 1st or 2nd level, by ENNIE-award winning author Matt Finch. The vengeance of an angry god, and treasures untold. The corruption and greed of the monks of the Iron God has brought divine vengeance upon their heads - the ancient monastery was recently destroyed in a cataclysm of fire and lightning, and only the tombs beneath remain intact. Somewhere in the catacombs lies the treasure the monks accumulated before they met their doom. An intrepid band of adventurers, willing to brave the perils of the unknown tombs, could gain riches beyond their wildest dreams. Do you dare to enter the burial catacombs and discover the chilling secrets of ... The Tomb of the Iron God?" Also available for 5E
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 Drunderry River runs narrow and fast through much of its course, before tumbling into the lowlands beneath the Fallow Hills, in the shadows of the Blacktooth Ridge. From there, the river spreads out across fertile plains, laboring slowly to the south before emptying into the Elmarsh Lake. Until recently this area was unsettled, but a writ of the King's has brought many people to the area. The village of Malforten, nesteld along the banks fo the Drunderry River, near the Fallow Hills, is just such a place. A quiet village with simple people, they learned the hard way the Blacktooth Ridge casts a deep and dark shadow. Seeing rich prizes in cattle and grain, people and other movables, Gritznak the Gnoll has come down from the Blacktooth with loot on his mind. All they've done to drive him off have failed, at their wits end the villagers turn to others, more experienced in combatting evil. They look to a rising knight to save them . . . . Also available for 5E: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/160855/A0-The-Rising-Knight--Adventures-for-5th-Edition-Rules
In the flooded temple is hidden a great treasure, and the adventures are in race to get there first, but the ancient temple is the home of Death's Messenger and several cults each with their own agenda. Will the adventurers survive or be dragged off to the lands of the dead? The Flooded Temple is a low-level OSR adventure based on the greatest RPG ever written as system agnostic and easily adapted to your favorite version. The adventure was originally written for the Danish Living Campaign The Hinterlands, and it is for the first time presented in English. The adventure introduces the players to a different tradition of adventures, and it one with a focus on exploration and encountering the unknown. The adventure contains several new items to entertain your players, and several challenges for them to overcome as they encounter the residents of the abandoned temple. The Flooded Temple also have a prequel, Tomb of the Dragon's Heart, and a sequel, Grave of the Heartless. Published by Greis Games.
"Barrow of the Elf King" is an evocative and intricate adventure module, specifically tailored for a party of 3-4 level one adventurers using "The Vanilla Game" rule set. This adventure delves into the mystical and eerie depths of an ancient barrow deep within the Old Forest, a place shrouded in darkness and mystery. It offers an experience that combines puzzles, combat, moral choices, and exploration, all set within a hauntingly atmospheric setting. "Deep in the Old Forest, where the trees grow tall and thick, where the sun rarely pierces the canopy, is an earthen mound. No birds sing in this part of the forest, no wind blows. The leaves of the trees seem larger, the canopy thicker. Even at mid-day, it is almost too dark to see" The HTML web version is free.
A man built a temple to a woman who died. It became a shrine for those who lost a spouse too soon. Later. Much later. A young couple came. Their tribes warred so they could only marry in death. It was poison. Which angered HER. They walk the temple ever since, cursed by a shrine spirit. She has a hatred of suicide only dead widows can know.